[Ultrasound in gall bladder diagnosis (author's transl)]

An analysis of the ultrasound findings in 104 selected patients with suspected gall bladder disease showed a high accuracy of 92%. Limiting factors in the use of ultrasound are anatomical variations, high position of the gall bladder, which prevents demonstration of the gall bladder. The primary use of ultrasound is in the demonstration of radiologically invisible gall bladders. In our clinical material 58% had stones, with occlusion of the cystic duct as a cause, in 29% there was malignant disease in the porta hepatis, with evidence of bile obstruction amongst those patients in whom there was no radiological opacification of the gall bladder.