Cholecystography
Gallstones are stone-like deposits that form in the gallbladder, a small pear-shaped organ located under the liver. The gallbladder is responsible for storing and concentrating bile, a greenish-yellow fluid which the liver secretes and which helps in the digestion of fats.
How do gallstones form?
Gallstones form when cholesterol or bile pigments come out of solution and ‘crystallise’ in the gallbladder. Sometimes gallstones form because the gallbladder does not empty properly. About three-quarters of all gallstones are made up of cholesterol. Most other gallstones are made up of a bile pigment called bilirubin and are sometimes called pigment stones.
As well as forming in the gallbladder, gallstones can block the flow of bile in the bile duct — the tube that carries bile to the small intestine (duodenum).
How does cholecystography work?
Cholecystography is a procedure that helps to diagnose gallstones. In the test, a special dye, called a contrast medium, is either injected into your body or is taken as special pills (oral cholecystography). This contrast medium shows up the structure of the gallbladder and bile duct on X-ray.
A radiologist takes X-rays of the gallbladder and bile ducts. The X-rays will show up stones in the gallbladder and obstruction of the bile ducts and they will also show how well the gallbladder is concentrating bile. The result is an X-ray record called a cholecystogram.
Nowadays, other investigations, such as ultrasound, are used more often than cholecystography to identify gallstones in the gallbladder.
Last Reviewed: 02 November 2009
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