Ultrasonography in acute cholecystitis

Abstract

Forty cases of acute cholecystitis, surgically and pathologically confirmed, were investigated with ultrasound. Echographic diagnosis was possible in 34 patients (85%); special emphasis was laid on wall thickening (90% of cases, with a mean wall thickness of 8.08 mm), evidence of an echofree layer within the wall (67.5% of patients) and a lumen > 4 cm with thick walls. Associated cholelithiasis was demonstrated in 28 of these patients. In 5 more patients, specific wall signs were absent and choelithiasis was the only detectable sign of the disease. In only 1 patient was there no echographic sign of acute cholecystitis.