Gallbladder disease is a common type of illness involving the biliary tree. Less common, but significant, is cystic disease of the biliary tree. It forms a sack or cyst which then presses on the bile duct and prevents bile form reaching the intestine. Occasionally this accumulation of bile becomes infected, causing abdominal pain and fever. In some patients the cyst can be felt by the doctor examining the abdomen.
Treatment is surgical.
The abnormal bile duct is removed and a piece of intestine used to replace it. In most cases, surgery permanently corrects the disease. Rarely, infection in the newly formes biliary tree recurs. It is probably inherited. In this syndrome, the small branches of the biliary tree in the liver are abnormal.