[The effect of chenodesoxycholic acid on cholesterol gallstones (author's transl)]

30 patients with radiolucent gallstones and 2 patients with radioopaque stones recieved chenodesoxycholic acid (CDC). In 12 patients stones were dissolved completely by CDC therapy, in 6 of the patients the size of the stones decreased by 40-70%. Only 1 patient developed severe diarrhea, so therapy had to be stopped. In 5 patients there was a slight and transient increase in SGOT and SGPT, in 2 other patient gammaGT increased; value normalized while treatment was continued. In 23 cases liver biopsies were done before and during treatment: no histological changes could be found in the specimens. 5 of the patients, whose gallstones had been dissolved, received 500 mg CDC/day thereafter, another 5 patients received 500 mg/d every other day. No recurrence of lithiasis was observed in either group. One patient on 500 mg CDC twice a week developed lithiasis after 6 months, another one stopped treatment completely and gallbladder stones reappeared after 8 months. The patients with radioopaque stones did not show any changes during treatment.