[Nucleation time and age in patients with gallstones]

The relationship between nucleation time (NT), total lipid concentration (TLC) and age was studied in a group of 45 gallstone patients (10 male, 35 female, age 50.1 +/- 14.5 yrs). Bile was obtained by direct fine needle puncture of the gallbladder under local anaesthesia and sonographic monitoring. There was a positive correlation between age and nucleation time (r = 0.626, p less than 0.001), in addition to a negative correlation between age and total bile lipid concentration (TLC) (r = -0.414, p = 0.005). The negative correlation between age and TLC indicates that gallbladder's ability to concentrate the bile decreases significantly with age. It is possible that the decreased concentration is a result of the chronic pathogenetic effects of gallbladder stones. Practically all patients showed a prolonged nucleation time after the 60th year (11.54 +/- 5.50 vs. 2.65 +/- 2.52 days). This would seem to indicate that these patients suffered primarily from bilirubin or calcified stones, currently unsuited for conservative therapy methods.