Ultrasonography of acute cholecystitis: clinical and histological correlation

Sonograms of 45 consecutive patients with histologically proven acute cholecystitis were retrospectively reviewed. The following sonographic criteria were evaluated for the presence of: thickening of the gallbladder wall; enlargement of the transverse diameter; gallbladder pressure pain (Murphy's sign); local hypoechoic areas in the bladder wall, and finally the indistinct internal appearance. All 4 patients (8.9%) with acalculous cholecystitis were detected by ultrasound. Its sensitivity as a test to detect acute cholecystitis is 88.9%, its specificity and accuracy 97.8 and 96.1%, respectively.