A Rare Finding of Incidental Intracholecystic Papillary Neoplasm Following Acute Cholecystitis Management

Intracholecystic papillary neoplasm (ICPN) is a grossly visible, mass-forming, noninvasive epithelial neoplasm arising from the mucosa and projecting into the lumen of the gallbladder. ICPN is a lesser-known tumor of the gallbladder lining, which although has a better prognosis compared to gallbladder adenocarcinoma carries the potential for metastatic transformation with spread to other organs. ICPN is found incidentally on imaging or during postop histological evaluation. However, we present a unique case of ICPN that was incidentally diagnosed in a 72-year-old Eastern European woman following cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis and was missed on preoperative imaging. Follow-up protocols of ICPN are poorly understood and vastly underreported. We discuss this patient’s findings in light of current literary evidence available on ICPN and outline future directions for better clinical understanding. We also highlight the need for screening guidelines in light of known risk factors to better understand the natural history of the disease to prevent malignant transformation into invasive gallbladder carcinoma.