Akbulut S, Tuncer A. Ectopic liver tissue on the gallbladder: A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guided systematic review. World J Gastrointest Surg 2026; 18(6): 118136 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.118136]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Sami Akbulut, MD, PhD, FACS, Professor, Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Inonu University Faculty of Medicine, Elazig Yolu 10 Kilometers, Malatya 44280, Türkiye. akbulutsami@gmail.com
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Surgery
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research-article
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Akbulut S, Tuncer A. Ectopic liver tissue on the gallbladder: A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guided systematic review. World J Gastrointest Surg 2026; 18(6): 118136 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.118136]
World J Gastrointest Surg. Jun 27, 2026; 18(6): 118136 Published online Jun 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.118136
Ectopic liver tissue on the gallbladder: A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guided systematic review
Sami Akbulut, Adem Tuncer
Sami Akbulut, Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Inonu University Faculty of Medicine, Malatya 44280, Türkiye
Sami Akbulut, Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Inonu University Faculty of Medicine, Malatya 44280, Türkiye
Adem Tuncer, Surgery, Istanbul Aydın University Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul 34280, Türkiye
Author contributions: Akbulut S conducted a statistical analysis; Akbulut S and Tuncer A collected data, wrote manuscript projected development and reviewed final version.
AI contribution statement: The authors used an AI-assisted language tool only for language polishing, grammar correction, and improving the clarity and readability of the manuscript. No AI tool was used to generate the scientific content, design the study, collect or analyze data, interpret the results, or draw conclusions. All intellectual content, scientific interpretation, critical revisions, and final approval of the manuscript were performed solely by the authors. The authors take full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the submitted work.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Corresponding author: Sami Akbulut, MD, PhD, FACS, Professor, Surgery and Liver Transplantation, Inonu University Faculty of Medicine, Elazig Yolu 10 Kilometers, Malatya 44280, Türkiye. akbulutsami@gmail.com
Received: December 25, 2025 Revised: February 17, 2026 Accepted: April 1, 2026 Published online: June 27, 2026 Processing time: 173 Days and 5.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Ectopic liver tissue (ELT) associated with the gallbladder is an uncommon congenital anomaly, most often detected incidentally during cholecystectomy. Evidence regarding its clinical relevance, optimal management, and malignant potential remains fragmented due to reliance on isolated case reports. This Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses-guided systematic review synthesizes data from 97 published articles and additional cases to clarify demographic features, anatomical characteristics, surgical approaches, and histopathological outcomes of gallbladder-associated ELT. Although most lesions exhibit normal hepatic architecture, reported cases of hepatocellular carcinoma underscore the importance of recognition and complete excision with histopathological evaluation when ELT is encountered intraoperatively.
