Acute acalculous cholecystitis complicating oral recontamination after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation.

Acalculous cholecystitis (AAC) is a well known complication in critically ill patients. Risk factors include mechanical ventilation, total parenteral nutrition and multiple blood transfusions. AAC has very rarely been described in patients undergoing allogeneic BMT. We report a case of AAC in a 25-year old female occuring after successful allografting for acute myeloid leukemia. The patient presented with leukocytosis, acute abdominal pain, right upper quadrant guarding and laboratory signs of liver dysfunction coincidentally with oral recontamination 38 days after BMT. AAC was diagnosed during explorative laparatomy and cholecystectomy was performed. Following surgery the patient developed acute graft versus host disease but recovered completely.