Mirizzi Syndrome

Excerpt

Mirizzi syndrome is a rare condition caused by the obstruction of the common bile duct or common hepatic duct by external compression from multiple impacted gallstones or a single large impacted gallstone in Hartman's pouch. Presenting symptoms are similar to cholecystitis but may be confused with other obstructing conditions such as common bile duct stones and ascending cholangitis due to the presence of jaundice. Preoperative diagnosis is often difficult and usually missed. This syndrome is named after the Argentinean surgeon Pablo Luis Mirizzi. He was born in 1893 in Cordoba, Argentina. Mirizzi graduated from the Medical Sciences School at the National University of Cordoba in 1915. His most well-known contribution to surgery is having performed the first intraoperative cholangiogram in 1931. The first published paper describing the syndrome which bears his name today was in 1940.