The Courvosier-Terrier sign refers to the presence of painless jaundice and an enlarged gallbladder (or mass in the right upper quadrant), often being more likely to be the presence of an obstructive pancreatic or biliary neoplasm, stones or other rare etiologic factors ¹.

These findings are based on the fact that stones can irritate the bile duct and gallbladder, causing chronic inflammatory changes leading to fibrosis, and preventing dilated biliary congestion from occurring ².

However, if this blockage is due to other causes, especially compression by a tumor, gradually increasing retrograde hydrostatic pressure will result in a large and flexible gallbladder ³.

Authors: Ortega Angel M.Sc. Radiologist. Mónica Morales Monzón MD, radiology resident.