Solitary neurofibroma of the gallbladder. A case report and review of the literature.

Abstract

Benign non-epithelial neoplasms of the gallbladder are rare. A case of incidental neurofibroma of the gallbladder in a 44-year-old man without neurofibromatosis 1 is reported. The intramural tumor, located in the neck of the gallbladder, was associated with lithiasis, chronic cholecystitis and localized fundic adenomyomatosis. Seven cases including the present one are reviewed. The seven patients ranged in age from 44 to 77 years, with an average age of 61.6 years. Four of the seven patients were women. Five tumors appeared as mural nodules, and two showed intraluminal growth. The most common location was the body of the gallbladder. The size of the lesion varied from 0.3 to 5.3 cm, with a mean size of 1.3 cm. Five of the seven cases were incidentally found in a gallbladder resected for cholelithiasis. Using ultrasonography, two cases with no lithiasis were detected preoperatively, presenting as intracavitary growing lesions by ultrasonography. It is possible that neurofibroma of the gallbladder may be more common than the small number of known cases indicates.