KEY FACTS
Imaging
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Single or multiple small, round/ovoid masses attached to gallbladder (GB) wall with no posterior acoustic shadowing
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Usually sessile but may be pedunculated with well-defined stalk
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Usually 2-10 mm in size, most commonly in middle 1/3 of GB
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Cholesterol polyp: Small with comet-tail artifact
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Avascular or hypovascular on Doppler examination
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Larger lesions may have slight internal vascularity
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Consider neoplastic GB polyp if size > 10 mm, irregular outline, sessile morphology with abnormal GB wall and invasion of adjacent structures, growth on serial US examinations
Top Differential Diagnoses
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Hyperplastic cholecystosis/adenomyomatosis
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Nonshadowing cholelithiasis or sludge
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Adenoma
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Carcinoma or metastasis
Pathology
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Polypoid lesions include cholesterol polyp, adenomyomatosis, and neoplasms such as adenoma, carcinoma, and metastases
Clinical Issues
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5% of population have polyps; 50% are cholesterol polyps
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More common in middle age; F > M; incidental finding
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< 6 mm: No follow-up
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7-9 mm: Yearly US follow-up to monitor size
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> 10 mm: Surgical consult
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Scanning Tips
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Scan in supine, decubitus (left or right lateral) positions to demonstrate immobility of GB polyp
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Look for color flow in polyp and for any abnormality of adjacent GB wall, which might indicate cancer










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