[Acute cholangiocholecystitis]

In analysis of a group of 48 patients, the authors describe an entity they call acute cholangio-cholecystitis (or acute cholecystitis of choledochal origin) and define it by 4 obligatory criteria: 1. vesicular lesion of acute cholecystitis type; 2. the obstruction of the main bile duct in the direction of its junction with the cystic duct; 3. free duct communication between the gallbladder and the main bile ducts; 4. fluid content (purulent gallbladder) found identical over the whole biliary territory (the gallbladder the main bile ducts the intrahepatic bile ducts). This entity represents 7.6% of the total of acute cholecystitis and was met in 2.8% of the total of the interventions for the main bile ducts obstruction. The deficient biological background of the patients (60% over 60 years old), and other seriousness factors--vesicular destructive lesions associated with biliary peritonitis (7/48), the existence of the duct obstruction, usually calculous (42/48), but also hydatic (3/48) or tumoural (3/48), the multitude and seriousness of the associated lesions are emphasized. The surgery, performed in over 80% emergent cases, was directed to the decomprimation of the main biliary axis to which the increase of the gangrenous cholecyst, treatment of the duct obstructive factor, repair of the internal biliary fistulas, treatment of the consequent peritonitis were added. The results, very often good (71%), were shadowed by a series of complications (29%) which ended in deaths (14.5%). The paper pleads for the early surgery of the lithiasic biliary disease, before the appearance of the inevitable complications.