Courvoisier's law

Courvoisier's law (or Courvoisier syndrome, or Courvoisier's sign) states that in the presence of a palpable gall bladder, jaundice is unlikely to be caused by gallstones. This is because gallstones are formed over a longer period of time, and this results in a shrunken, fibrotic gall bladder which does not distend easily. Therefore the gall bladder is more often enlarged in pathologies that cause obstruction of the biliary tree over a shorter period of time such as pancreatic malignancy.

It is named for Ludwig Georg Courvoisier.

(Images courtesy of Charlie Goldberg, M.D., UCSD School of Medicine and VA Medical Center, San Diego, California)