Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis in a 10-year-old boy

A 10-year-old boy presented with a 5-month history of recurrent abdominal pain, fever, and jaundice. Ultrasound examination revealed a thick-walled gallbladder and dilatation of the biliary tree. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography showed irregular common bile duct dilatation. After cholecystectomy for acalculous cholecystitis, histological examination of the operative specimen revealed the features of xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis. The abnormalities observed in the bile duct were secondary. This unusual destructive inflammatory process has previously only been described in adults.