Subhepatic appendix with fecalith mimicking acute cholecystitis with gallstone

✍ Scribed by Patel, Nikhil R.; Lakshman, Sankar; Hays, Talmage V.; Thomas, Eapen

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 332 KB
• Volume: 24
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0091-2751
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0096(199601)24:1<45::aid-jcu9>3.0.co;2-l

✦ Synopsis

to be caused by an inflamed subhepatic appendix containing a fecalith.

CASE REPORT

A 69-year-old white woman was admitted with severe right upper quadrant pain, nausea, and vomiting. Physical examination revealed a confused, febrile patient with a somewhat distended abdomen and localized rebound tenderness in the right upper quadrant. Multiple abdominal scars were present from past abdominal surgeries including left colectomy for colon cancer and partial intestinal obstruction from multiple adhesions. Laboratory data were significant for leucocytosis. Abdominal x-rays were nonspecific. FIGURE 1. Linear echogenic image of fecalith (small arrow) within fluid filled appendix mimicking gallbladder with gallstone and typical acoustic shadowing (large arrows).