| Cholesterolosis of gallbladder | |
|---|---|
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| Micrograph of cholesterolosis of the gallbladder, with an annotated foam cell. H&E stain. | |
| Specialty | Gastroenterology  |
In surgical pathology, strawberry gallbladder, more formally cholesterolosis of the gallbladder and gallbladder cholesterolosis, is a change in the gallbladder wall due to excess cholesterol. [1]
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The name strawberry gallbladder comes from the typically stippled appearance of the mucosal surface on gross examination, which resembles a strawberry. The term was coined by surgical pathologist William C. MacCarty of the Mayo Clinic in 1910. [2] Cholesterolosis results from abnormal deposits of cholesterol esters in macrophages within the lamina propria (foam cells) and in mucosal epithelium. The gallbladder may be affected in a patchy localized form or in a diffuse form. The diffuse form macroscopically appears as a bright red mucosa with yellow mottling (due to lipid), hence the term strawberry gallbladder. It is not tied to cholelithiasis (gallstones) or cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder). [3]
