Porcelain gallbladder means the wall of the gallbladder has been calcified to a hard and bluish-white texture resembling porcelain ceramic. This medical condition primarily results from gallstones that chronically inflame the gallbladder; when many gallstones collect in the gallbladder, it becomes irritated or inflamed and causes calcification, or build up, that might necessitate surgery. Sometimes the gallstones can lead to a condition known as chronic cholecystitis, which can change the texture of the gallbladder wall, resulting in a porcelain appearance.
How the Gallbladder Works
To understand the process that creates porcelain gallbladder, it is best to first understand how this digestive organ works. The four inch (10 cm) gallbladder stores bile, a kind of acid, that digests fats found in food. The cystic duct transfers bile made in the liver to the gallbladder, and the gallbladder stores or passes along the right amount of bile through the common bile duct to the small intestine where the bile breaks down fat. When bile doesn't successfully break down fat, perhaps due to a high fat diet, the extra cholesterol can crystallize into gallstones.
Gallstones
Even though they are tiny, gallstones can lodge in those ducts that carry bile and limit the flow of fluids. These stones are hard deposits that can range in size from as small as a grain of sand to as large as a golf ball. A build up of gallstones can cause unhealthy blockages that end up inflaming or infecting the entire gallbladder, a condition called chronic cholecystitis. Over time, the wall and lining of the gallbladder thickens and hardens from the infection and inflammation, resulting in porcelain gallbladder.
Occurrences and Treatment
Women are five times more likely than men to suffer from this condition, even though the overall incidence in the general population is less than one percent. In 90 percent of the cases of porcelain gallbladder, calcification is the direct result of chronic cholecystitis, but medical experts still don't know exactly what causes it to occur. Since porcelain gallbladder has no early symptoms, it is usually detected by a CT scan, X-ray, or ultrasound being conducted for another reason where the porcelain gallbladder appears as a visible, dense sac beside the liver. Later symptoms include jaundice, abdominal pain, and vomiting at which point the condition is usually detected by a health care professional.
So far, the recommended treatment for this condition is to remove the entire gallbladder in order to reduce the risk of developing cancer of the gallbladder. Researchers are still investigating the relationship between porcelain gallbladder and the increased risk of gallbladder cancer, as studies have shown that the two are not as closely related as it was previously believed.