Spilled gallstone mimicking right middle lobe pulmonary nodule

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the standard of care for the surgical management of symptomatic gallstone disease. Gallstone spillage at laparoscopic cholecystectomy is common, with a reported incidence of 0.2-20%. In the majority of cases there are no complications associated with this spillage, but a series of studies report patients with complications of free peritoneal gallstones. We present a case of migration of gallstone to the lung resulting in an inflammatory mass in the right middle lobe as a complication of spillage at laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Spilled gallstone mimicking right middle lobe pulmonary nodule

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the standard of care for the surgical management of symptomatic gallstone disease. Gallstone spillage at laparoscopic cholecystectomy is common, with a reported incidence of 0.2-20%. In the majority of cases there are no complications associated with this spillage, but a series of studies report patients with complications of free peritoneal gallstones. We present a case of migration of gallstone to the lung resulting in an inflammatory mass in the right middle lobe as a complication of spillage at laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Imaging the solitary pulmonary nodule

The development of widespread lung cancer screening programs has the potential to dramatically increase the number of thoracic computed tomography (CT) examinations performed annually in the United States, resulting in a greater number of newly detected, indeterminate solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs). Additional imaging studies, such as fluorodeoxyglucose F 18 (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET), have been shown to provide valuable information in the assessment of indeterminate SPNs. Newer technologies, such as contrast-enhanced dual-energy chest CT and FDG-PET/CT, also have the potential to facilitate diagnosis of potentially malignant SPNs.