Courvoisier's sign revisited: two patients with palpable gallbladder.

More than a century ago, Courvoisier published his observation on the significance of a palpable gallbladder in the differential diagnosis of obstructive jaundice. We have described two patients with newly described conditions--AIDS-associated cholangiopathy and diet-induced cholecystitis--who had a palpable gallbladder and have discussed possible pathogenetic mechanisms.