Color Doppler imaging of the cystic artery

Color Doppler ultrasonography was used to examine the gallbladder vascular supply in 30 volunteers and in 30 biliary lithotripsy patients pre- and 2 hours posttreatment. A preliminary study of 10 cases of acute cholecystitis was also performed. A cystic artery waveform was obtained in 24 of the volunteers, 18 pre- and postlithotripsy patients, and in 1 of 10 patients with acute cholecystitis. The mean pulsatility indices obtained were 1.04 in the volunteers, 0.98 pre- and 1.02 postlithotripsy (p greater than 0.1). This study shows that the normal gallbladder blood supply can be consistently identified using color Doppler flow imaging and that there is no appreciable difference in the cystic artery pulsatility index following medium-energy shock-wave extracorporeal lithotripsy. Preliminary results in acute cholecystitis suggest that flow is decreased below the sensitivity of the color Doppler imaging system used in this investigation.