A rare cause of gallbladder perforation: Burkitt's lymphoma

Abstract

Although the perforation of gallbladder rarely occurs, it is a high-risk and life-threatening condition. High ratesof mortality and morbidity are associated with late diagnosis. Burkitt’s lymphoma is a disease, which starts inB-cells and develops with leukemia and extranodal involvement. Involvement of gallbladder wall is a veryrare location of extranodal lymphomas. In this case, a 68-year-old woman with severe pain in the left armreferred to our outpatients’ clinic where anti-HCV (+), leukocytosis, elevated sedimentation rate, andthrombocytopenia were found in her initial tests. On the basis of these findings, further tests were performedand she was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma. She had acute abdomen and gallbladder perforation wasdetected by radiologic study. Urgent laparotomy was performed and she subsequently underwentcholecystectomy and drain insertion. Postoperative septic shock developed and she died due to multiple organdysfunction syndrome. The determined diagnosis was described as gallbladder wall perforation associated withBurkitt’s lymphoma infiltration in the pathology report. It is very important for the clinicians to take into theconsideration that a rare cause of gallbladder perforation is Burkitt’s lymphoma and it has an aggressivepostoperative clinical course.