Cholangiocarcinoma is a malignancy that is hard to detect and resect, due mostly to its location as well as a lack of current screening tests. When found, it is often in the advanced stage as patients are usually asymptomatic during the early course of the disease; the overall prognosis is modest in patients diagnosed at this stage. Here, we discuss the case of a 48-year-old female with no significant past medical history or family history who presented to our hospital with symptoms of acute cholecystitis with a supporting ultrasound. She proceeded to get a laparoscopic cholecystectomy for the same, but an ensuing workup and pathology revealed advanced-stage cholangiocarcinoma. The patient ultimately opted for palliative care given her poor prognosis.
Keywords: acute calculus cholecystitis; adenocarcinoma; cholangiocarcinoma; duodenal obstruction; elevated ca 19-9; palliative care.
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