Diagnosis of lymphoma from a cholecystectomy specimen: case report and review of the literature.

A 31-year-old woman had cholecystectomy for recurrent acute cholecystitis. Pathologic examination of the resected gallbladder revealed unsuspected histiocytic lymphoma. A staging laparotomy seven weeks after cholecystectomy revealed disseminated disease. Lymphomatous involvement of the gallbladder is rarely diagnosed antemortem and indicates disseminated disease until proved otherwise.