Courvoisier’s law

Courvoisier’s law /ko͝orvô·äzē·āz″/ [Ludwig Courvoisier, Swiss surgeon, 1843–1918] , a statement that the gallbladder is smaller than usual if a gallstone blocks the common bile duct but is dilated if the common bile duct is blocked by something other than a gallstone, such as pancreatic cancer.