Mirizzi syndrome: a case report and review of the literature

The Mirizzi syndrome is a rare benign cause of obstructive jaundice. The syndrome is a result of the impaction of a large stone, or several smaller ones, in either the Hartmann's pouch or the cystic duct, causing obstruction to the common hepatic duct. It is particularly interesting to surgeons because the surgery has to be carefully planned to avoid unnecessary damage to the common bile duct. Furthermore, it poses a differential diagnosis dilemma for surgeons as well as radiologists because there are no diagnostic procedures or clinical features that have a 100% specificity and sensitivity. As a result, the Mirizzi syndrome often has been mistaken for carcinoma of the gallbladder. We report one case of Mirizzi syndrome to draw attention to the importance of this syndrome and to describe the clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of the disease.