Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 2, Issue 11 481-484, Copyright © 1983 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Cholelithiasis in children: recent observations
C. I. Henschke and R. L. Teele
All patients at Children's Hospital Medical Center who had ultrasonic
evidence of cholelithiasis during the period from June 1979 to June 1982
were identified. Their charts and radiographs were reviewed, as were the
surgical and pathologic reports of those who had cholecystectomy.
Cholelithiasis was found to be less rare than expected. Sixty-five patients
were identified during the three-year period. Exclusion of 13 patients more
than 21 years old left 52 patients, 29 of whom were female and 23 male,
ranging in age from 3 months to 21 years. Predisposing diseases or
circumstances were present in 83 per cent of the cases. These included
hemolytic anemia (15), cystic fibrosis (4), metabolic disease (3), liver
disease (4), postpartum state (4), prior bowel resection or malabsorption
(4), cardiac disease (4), prior orthopedic surgery (2), other (3). There
were only nine cases in which no identifiable predisposition to
cholelithiasis could be found. Although the gallstones were not subjected
to chemical analysis, at least 53 per cent of them were visible on the 34
available abdominal radiographs, indicating the presence of calcium and
thus stones of a mixed type.
