A Study on the Anomalies of Gallbladder and Associated Structures

The gallbladder is a piriform structure on the undersurface of liver. It collects bile from the liver to concentrate it and to store it. The gallbladder has a cystic duct which joins the common bile duct and through these ducts bile passes into the duodenum. There is usually a single gallbladder (arising from the cystic bud of hepatic diverticulum) with one cystic duct supplied by a cystic artery taking origin from the right hepatic artery. But in few persons there are double gallbladder or double cystic ducts or different variations in the origin and course of cystic arteries. A study was undertaken in 2006 to detect the anomalies of these structures among the people Kolkata (a metropolis of eastern part of India), by dissection of cadavers. This study was conducted from the year 2006 to 2009 in the Department of Anatomy of Calcutta National Medical College and in other medical colleges of Kolkata. Three cases of double gallbladder and few other variations like double cystic duct were found in this study. These findings will help the clinicians (specially the surgeons, radiologists of the eastern part of India) to undertake any investigative or surgical procedure in the region of extra hepatic biliary apparatus. This study will enhance our knowledge not only surgical Anatomy, but also in embryology and in gross anatomy.