Yeonju Kim, Nitin Vaishampayan, Ramesh Boggula, Kimberly B Hart, Ali Gabali, Anas Saad, Steven R Miller
Primary mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma of the gallbladder is an extremely rare disease. We describe a case of a 79-year-old man with chronic hepatitis C-related cirrhosis presenting with acute epigastric pain and laboratory findings consistent with gallstone pancreatitis. He underwent a cholecystectomy, and histopathology review of the surgical specimen revealed a primary MALT lymphoma of the gallbladder. Staging studies revealed no evidence of metastatic disease but incidentally identified a malignancy of the prostate. The patient's gallbladder MALT lymphoma was managed conservatively with surgery and active surveillance, and he remains disease-free at two years status post surgery. This case expands the clinical spectrum of gallbladder MALT lymphoma, with, to our knowledge, the first report of pancreatitis as the presenting symptom. It underscores the importance of considering lymphoid neoplasms in atypical gallbladder disease and highlights the need to further evaluate the potential role of chronic hepatic inflammation in its pathogenesis.