Gallstones in Patients with Chronic Liver Diseases

Gallstones in Patients with Chronic Liver Diseases
Greetings from sunny Michigan, not sure what happened but it sure is warm outside, we might hit 60 today. Glad you stopped by folks, in this edition of weekend reading we take a quick look at gallstone disease, cirrhosis and HCV.

Research has shown that people with chronic liver disease, especially those with cirrhosis have a greater tendency to develop gallstones. Although cirrhosis is a known risk factor for gallstones, little is known about gallbladder disease in individuals with chronic hepatitis C - research is sparse. Today's focus is on gallstone disease in chronic liver diseases including risk associated with gallstones occurrence in people with chronic hepatitis C.

The articles or abstracts provided below were found in online journals or accessed through PubMed.

2017

Review Article

Gallstones in Patients with Chronic Liver Diseases

Xu Li, Xiaolin Guo, Huifan Ji, Ge Yu, and Pujun Gao

With prevalence of 10–20% in adults in developed countries, gallstone disease (GSD) is one of the most prevalent and costly gastrointestinal tract disorders in the world. In addition to gallstone disease, chronic liver disease (CLD) is also an important global public health problem. The reported frequency of gallstone in chronic liver disease tends to be higher. The prevalence of gallstone disease might be related to age, gender, etiology, and severity of liver disease in patients with chronic liver disease. In this review, the aim was to identify the epidemiology, mechanisms, and treatment strategies of gallstone disease in chronic liver disease patients.

Read the article published January 2017 online in BioMed Research International.

2016
Hepatitis C Virus Infection Is Positively Associated with Gallstones in Liver Cirrhosis
Zhang F.-M. · Chen L.-H. · Chen H.-T. · Shan G.-D. · Hu F.-L. · Yang M. · Chen W.-G. · Xu G.-Q.
Aim - To elucidate the prevalence and risk factors of gallstone disease (GD) among patients with liver disease and explore their association with the aetiology and severity of hepatic injury.

CONCLUSION: HCV infection is positively associated with gallstone formation especially in those with cirrhosis patients.

Abstract available, here.

2014
Hepatitis C - A Risk Factor For Gallstone Disease
Syed Inamullah Shah, Sajida Shah*, Abdul Hannan
This cross-sectional study aimed to establish an association between HCV infection and gallstones by excluding subjects with all other risk factors for gallstones.

There is a strong association between HCV infection and gallstones. HCV infection is definitely a risk factor for gallstone disease particularly in young males. By invalidating young subjects and rendering them as potential candidates for surgery, this association has a profound effect on health economy. There is a predilection for HCV positive patients to acquire multiple gallstones. Further studies are needed to evaluate the precise cause for this association.

Download the original 2014 article, here.

2009
Hepatitis C Virus Infection is a Risk Factor for Gallstone Disease: A Prospective Hospital-based Study of Patients with Chronic Viral C Hepatitis
M. Acalovschi; C. Buzas; C. Radu; M. Grigorescu
A Prospective Hospital-based Study of Patients with Chronic hepatitis C.

We decided to investigate whether the gallstone risk in patients with chronic HCV infection was linked only to cirrhosis or also to the HCV infection per se.

Our study shows that even HCV patients with chronic hepatitis but not cirrhosis have an increased prevalence of gallstones. Compared with controls, gallstones are present in HCV patients at a younger age and are associated with central obesity and liver steatosis, but not with gallstone heredity, dyslipidaemia, diabetes mellitus or metabolic syndrome. Although we could not establish a temporal relationship, the association between HCV infection and gall stone disease is real and appears to be causally linked, at least in predisposed individuals (obese and with liver steatosis).

Published in Journal of Viral Hepatitis, full text article available @ Medscape.

2011
Gallstones and Liver Disease: an Overview
Dario Conte, Mirella Fraquelli, Mariangela Giunta, Clara Benedetta Conti
Nowadays, there is much interest in discovering the relationship between GS and liver disease and in the last issue Coelho and colleagues [3] decided to assess the prevalence of cholelithiasis in patients undergoing liver transplantation for end stage liver disease. Their study deals with a really interesting and new issue. In fact, whereas many studies observed a higher prevalence of GS in chronic liver disease, up to now none have assessed GS prevalence in the subset of patients subjected to liver transplantation. In addition, this article evaluates this particular issue in Latin America, a geographical area from which few data are available in current literature. The reference standard to detect GS was represented not only by the ultrasonographic scan of the gallbladder but also on the direct examination of the explanted liver. The results of the study by Coelho and colleagues deserve some considerations that could be summarized by answering three main questions:
a) How did we get here?
b) What  is the reason for the increased frequency of gallstones in cirrhosis?
c) Do gallstones worsen the course of liver cirrhosis?
Download the editorial  here..

Gallstones (cholelithiasis) - causes, symptoms, diagnosis & pathology
What are gallstones? Gallstones are solid stones that are produced in the gallbladder when there’s an imbalance in the composition of bile. The main types of gallstones are cholesterol stones, bilirubin stones, and brown stones.



Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Tina