Familial occurrence of anomalous pancreaticobiliary duct union associated with gallbladder neoplasms.

The authors present two cases of anomalous pancreaticobiliary duct union that occurred in a mother and her daughter; the former was associated with gallbladder adenocarcinoma, and the latter, gallbladder adenoma with high grade dysplasia. This disorder has been considered a developmental anomaly, although the true etiology has not been known. This is the first report of familial occurrence of this anomaly, and it may point to the presence of a genetic factor in its development. Another implication is the presence of histological features which suggest the possible sequence of anomalous pancreaticobiliary duct union to intestinal metaplasia to adenoma or dysplasia to cancer of the gallbladder.