Structural and chemical characterization of gallstones resistant to dissolution therapy

X-ray diffraction, i.r. spectroscopic, and chemical analyses have been carried out on radiolucent gallstones resistant to dissolution therapy. Cholesterol represents the main component of all the examined stones, while the ratio between the amounts of pigmented material and calcium carbonate is about 1 in the inner and outer layers of the stones and 3 in the medial layer. Calcium carbonate is present in two distinct crystalline forms: vaterite, which is the main inorganic crystalline phase, and calcite. The cell parameters of vaterite and calcite are shorter in the inner and outer layers of the stones than in the medial layer. The observed variation of the cell parameters has been related to the substitution of copper to calcium in the carbonate structures, on the basis of the data obtained on vaterite and calcite synthesized in presence of different copper concentrations in solution. The results indicate that the failure of the dissolution therapy can be related to the inhomogeneous distribution in the stones of calcium carbonate and calcium bilirubinate.