The Diagnostic Accuracy of CT Scan in Evaluation of Gallbladder Carcinoma

Abstract

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of CT scan in evaluation of Gallbladder Carcinoma (GBC) taking histopathology as gold standard. Study Design: Cross-sectional, Descriptive study. The study was conducted at Department of Radiology, Dow Medical College and Civil Hospital, Karachi from 1st January 2014 to 31st December 2014. Materials and Methods: This study comprises 434 patients of either gender, age between 30 to 70 years, with history of jaundice, pain in right hypochondrium/epigastrium and weight loss with suspicion of carcinoma gall bladder, referred to the Radiology Department of Civil Hospital Karachi over a period of 12 months. Post operated cases without CT scan and patients allergic to the contrast material were excluded from the study. Results: Out of 434 patients, there were 183(42%) male and 251(58%) female patients in this study. The overall mean age was 53.37±7.18 years with range 28 (38-66) years. With histopathological findings gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) was found positive in 292 patients and with CT scan findings gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) was found positive in 285 patients. The mean age of patients with positive histopathological findings for gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) was 54.36±6.95 Conclusion: The use of computed tomography can help early diagnosis of GBC. Contrast-enhanced MDCT was effective in identifying the criteria for resectability of the tumor and in disease staging. The histopathological diagnosis of the present study correlated well with CT scan in diagnosis of gallbladder malignancy.

Keywords

• CT scan
• diagnostic accuracy
• gallbladder carcinoma
• histopathology
• MDCT