Isolated necrotizing vasculitis of gallbladder: a report of two cases and review of literature.

Abstract

We report two cases of isolated necrotizing vasculitis of gallbladder without evidence of systemic involvement which was histologically indistinguishable from classic polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), displaying vascular lesions in different stages of progression like those of PAN. The literature has been reviewed in order to evaluate the significance and possible aetio-pathogenesis of gallbladder (GB) vasculitis. Localized PAN of gallbladder is a rare incidental postoperative finding, the serological work-up for autoantibodies may be negative and the disease is likely to remain self-limited.