| Abstract: | At present, according to the unanimously accepted data, cholecystoses are noninflammatory, nonlithiasic, gallbladder diseases. However the authors' experience has proved that the inflammatory process is much more frequent than it is believed and often associated also with lithiasis, a fact which, in the authors' opinion, would justify a reconsideration of this group of diseases. This study, based on histopathologic examination, was carried out in 1,630 gallbladder specimens, surgically removed. Out of these, 278 (17.05 per cent) were identified as cholecystoses; 156 out of them were cholesteroloses and 122 diverticular diseases of the gallbladder. Inflammation as a well defined morphologic process was found in 104 cases (66.67 per cent) of cholesterolosis and in 119 cases (97.54 per cent) of diverticular disease, therefore 80.21 per cent of the cases of cholecystosis examined were associated with inflammation. As regards lithiasis, it was present in 131 of the cases (46.76 per cent). The inflammatory process presented a chronic aspect with no other particular morphologic characteristics. By correlating the histopathologic data with the clinical evolutive ones, it was observed that the presence of inflammation corresponded with a clinical evolution of the disease of about three years. The authors believed that the group of cholecystoses should be reconsidered bearing in mind that inflammation is present in most of the cases and in almost half of them it is associated with lithiases. Under these conditions the sphere of chronic nonlithiasic, noninflammatory gallbladder diseases becomes considerably reduced today. |
