Gallbladder carcinoma with skeletal metastasis in a Nigerian woman: a case report and review of literature.

[carcinoma of the gallbladder]

To present a case of skeletal metastasis from a gallbladder malignancy , a rare occurrence .A 75 year old Nigerian woman presented in the surgical outpatient clinic of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital with a two month history of right hypochondrial pain and three weeks swelling on the forehead . Physical examination revealed an ill looking , emaciated elderly woman in mild painful distress . She was pale , afebrile and anicteric . Skull x-ray revealed a well circumscribed soft tissue mass over a lytic bone defect in the frontal region . Abdominal ultrasound scan showed an enlarged gallbladder with a thickened wall and intraluminal echogenic mass , surrounding lymphadenopathy and intrahepatic metastasis . Radiological diagnosis of advanced gallbladder carcinoma with both local and distant metastases was made .Carcinoma of the gallbladder with skeletal metastasis is a rare finding . However , in any patient with gallbladder malignancy distant metastasis with skeletal involvement should be sought .