PRIMARY LYMPHOMA OF THE GALLBLADDER - CASE-REPORT AND REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

The term extranodal lymphoma refers to lymphoma arising in tissues oth er than lymph nodes or major lymphoid organs (1). The GI tract is comm only involved by lymphoma. Although lymphomas of the liver and the bil iary tree are uncommon, they are well described in the literature. How ever, there are only nine cases of primary lymphoma of the gallbladder reported in the English literature, We report a patient with primary gallbladder lymphoma diagnosed preoperatively by ultrasound, with dise ase confined to the gallbladder on pathology specimens and radiologica l examination. His rapid disease progression to diffuse abdominal invo lvement in 6 wk points to the importance of a timely diagnosis. We pos tulate that delays in making the diagnosis may lead to the underdiagno sis of primary lymphoma of the gallbladder.