Pankaj Gupta, Yashi Marodia, Akash Bansal, Naveen Kalra, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India
Praveen Kumar-M, Department of Pharmacology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India
Vishal Sharma, Usha Dutta, Department of Gastroenterology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh 160012, India
Author contributions: Gupta P acquired the data, designed the outline of the paper, performed the writing and did the major revisions; Marodia Y and Bansal A did the majority of the writing, and prepared the figures and tables; Kumar-M P prepared the line diagrams; Sharma V and Dutta U contributed to data acquisition as well as to writing; Kalra N and Sandhu MS provided useful input for the writing of the paper; all authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the senior author or other coauthors contributed their efforts in this manuscript.
Corresponding author: Pankaj Gupta, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Radiodiagnosis and Imaging, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Sector 12, Chandigarh 160012, India. pankajgupta959@gmail.com
Received: June 8, 2020 Peer-review started: June 8, 2020 First decision: July 29, 2020 Revised: August 12, 2020 Accepted: September 16, 2020 Article in press: September 16, 2020 Published online: October 28, 2020 Processing time: 141 Days and 19 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Etiological diagnosis of gallbladder (GB) wall thickening can be challenging. Therefore, a thorough knowledge of the patterns and causes is crucial. Diffuse GB wall thickening is mostly related to inflammatory conditions intrinsic to the GB or extra-cholecystic causes. Focal GB wall thickening, on the other hand, presents a diagnostic challenge. An understanding of the imaging patterns of GB wall thickening, including the degree of mural thickening, internal mural characteristics such as enhancement features, and relationship with adjacent structures including liver and bile ducts may point towards the likelihood of GB carcinoma. We present a concise review of the differential diagnoses of GB wall thickening on various imaging modalities. We also discuss the specific features that may aid to distinguish individual benign pathologies (chronic cholecystitis, xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis, and adenomyomatosis) from GB carcinoma. Finally, we suggest an approach to GB wall thickening and propose a reporting format.
