L. B. Olokoba*

The presence of Gallstones in the gallbladder is known to cause irritation of the gallbladder wall thereby resulting in the thickening of the gallbladder wall. On the other hand, an inflamed gallbladder, with its thickened wall, has been postulated to encourage super-saturation of gallbladder bile and subsequent gallstone formation. This study was therefore designed to determine the relationship between the presence of Gallstones and Gallbladder wall thickness.

One hundred type 2 diabetic patients and 100 age and sex matched controls underwent real time ultrasonography to determine the effect of type 2 diabetes mellitus on fasting gallbladder volume. The mean gallbladder volume of diabetic patients was 27.6 ± 15.4 ml compared with 24.3 ± 12.8 ml in non-diabetic controls (P > 0.05). It is suggested that type 2 diabetes mellitus could be a risk factor for increased fasting gallbladder volume in Nigerians.

Gallstone disease (GSD) is one of the commonest gastrointestinal diseases seen in clinical practice. Cholesterol and triglycerides are established principal constituents of the majority of gallstones, particularly in the Western world. This study was, therefore, embarked upon to examine the relationship between gallstone disease and serum lipids. One hundred normal adult Nigerians (50 males and 50 females) underwent real time ultrasonography (USS) to determine the relationship between serum lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides) and gallstone disease.