Evaluation of gallbladder emptying in patients with chronic liver disease by 99mTc-EHIDA hepatobiliary scintigraphy.

Gallbladder motility and cholesterol crystallization in bile from patients with pigment and cholesterol gallstones

“…Pigment stones are also common in liver cirrhosis and chronic haemolytic conditions such as beta-thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]38]. It is of interest that impaired gallbladder motility has been reported in liver cirrhosis [10][11][46][47], sickle cell anaemia [18] and beta-thalassemic children [17]. Thus, similarly to what observed for cholesterol gallstones, gallbladder stasis might also be a contributing factor in the pathogenesis of pigment gallstones.…”

Reduced Contractility and Histological Changes in the Gallbladder due to Portal Hypertension in a Hamster Cirrhosis Model

“…Measurements of the emptying function of the gall bladder by hepatobiliary scintigraphy and the contractili ty of the gallbladder on ultrasonography have shown a reduced emptying function or reduced contractility of the gallbladder in patients with liver cirrhosis [11], In the present study, it was shown that the GCR was significant ly correlated with portal venous pressure in experimental cirrhotic hamsters. The contraction of the gallbladder is related to many factors, i.e., the vagus nerve, hormones such as cholecystokinin, gastrin and motilin of the gas trointestinal tract and their hormone receptors, peptides such as neuropeptide Y, substance P and gastrin-releasing peptide, smooth muscles contracting in response to a stimulus, the relationship between the gallbladder and the liver, and the composition and physical features of the bile.…”

“…In the noncompensatory phase of cirrhosis, the blood albumin level is decreased and the incidence of gallblad der wall thickening is high. Several studies have found that hypoalbuminemia was a major factor in gallbladder wall thickening [8][9][10][11]. However, other studies have re cently demonstrated that there is no correlation between gallbladder wall thickness and serum albumin levels [8,10,22].…”

“…As the use of ultrasonography of the abdomen has become widespread, gallbladder wall thickening and reduced con tractility of the gallbladder have been demonstrated in liv er cirrhosis [8][9][10][11], However, the effects of portal hyper tension, a common complication in liver cirrhosis, on the humane care. The animals were maintained under standard labora tory conditions with free access to chow and drinking water ad libi tum.…”

Gallstones in Chronic Liver Disease

“…34 The study of gallbladder kinetics in the presence of CLD and cirrhosis has shown on ultrasonography and radionuclide cholescintigraphy that its emptying is sluggish. [51][52][53] On ultrasonography, the unstimulated gallbladder in patients with CLD and cirrhosis has also been found to have significantly increased volumes with signs of a hypotonia. 52,54 There is some evidence to suggest that gallbladder contraction is also under neural control.…”