title: Gallstone disease: Epidemiology, pathogenesis, and classification of biliary stones (common bile duct and intrahepatic).
abstract: Gallstones are common in Western countries and Japan. Most gallstones are found in the gallbladder, but they sometimes pass through the cystic duct into extrahepatic and/or intrahepatic bile ducts to become bile-duct stones, causing conditions known as choledocholithiasis and hepatolithiasis. Some 10-15% of gallstone patients concomitantly suffer from bile-duct stones. Bile-duct stones can also be formed in the absence of gallbladder stones, and such primary bile-duct stones are more common in East Asian countries than in the Western world. Thus pathogenesis of primary and secondary bile-duct stones is unlikely to be similar. Furthermore, the gallbladder stones are primarily cholesterol or black-pigment stones, whereas most bile-duct stones are brown-pigment stones (calcium bilirubin stones). Thus, epidemiology, pathogenesis and classification of biliary stones are very likely to differ according to stone location (intrahepatic and/or extrahepatic bile duct).
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine and Clinical Pharmacotherapeutics, Hiroshima University Hospital and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 1-2-3, Kasumi, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan. stazuma@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tazuma
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D042883:Choledocholithiasis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002780:Cholestasis, Intrahepatic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D042882:Gallstones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors