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Spiral CT of the Abdomen pp 187–195Cite as

Choledocholithiasis and CT Cholangiography

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Part of the book series: Medical Radiology ((Med Radiol Diagn Imaging))

Abstract

Bile duct calculi can be classified into primary or secondary stones, depending on their site of origin. The majority of bile duct stones are secondary stones formed in the gallbladder, which then migrate into the extrahepatic biliary tree. These stones reflect the composition of gallbladder stones, i.e. predominantly cholesterol in 80% and black pigment in 20% (Hawes and Sherman 1995) The frequency of common bile duct stones increases with increasing age of the patient. Cystic duct diameter appears to be an important factor in the migration of gallbladder stones into the common bile duct. Primary stones form de novo in the bile ducts. These pigmented stones are brown or black and are often friable. Their pathogenesis depends on two main factors, which are biliary stasis and bacterial or parasitic infection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, St-Luc University Hospital, Avenue Hippocrate 10, B-1200, Brussels, Belgium

    B.E. Van Beers MD, PhD & J.H. Pringot MD

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  1. B.E. Van Beers MD, PhD
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  2. J.H. Pringot MD
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology Division of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Geneva University Hospital, 24, Rue Micheli-du-Crest, CH-1211, Genève 14, Switzerland

    François Terrier MD (Professor) & Christoph D. Becker MD (Professor) & 

  2. Hôpital de la Tour, CH-1217, Meyrin, Switzerland

    Marianne Grossholz MD

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© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Van Beers, B., Pringot, J. (2000). Choledocholithiasis and CT Cholangiography. In: Terrier, F., Grossholz, M., Becker, C.D. (eds) Spiral CT of the Abdomen. Medical Radiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56976-0_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-56976-0_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-42291-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-56976-0

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