Sonographic measurement of the fasting gallbladder and its contractility in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Upon routine sonographic examination, some patients with chronic hepatitis B were found to have a larger gallbladder. In order to evaluate their gallbladder size and contractility, 45 patients with chronic hepatitis B, along with 45 healthy subjects as control, were entered into this study. All 90 subjects were free from factors affecting gallbladder contractility. After overnight fasting, the gallbladder cross-section area was measured by planimetry of real-time sonographic unit. The postprandial gallbladder area was measured by the same method at 30 and 45 minutes. The results showed that the fasting gallbladder size was significantly larger in the patients with chronic hepatitis than in the control group (p<0.01). No significant difference of the contractility between these two groups was noted at 30 and 45 minutes after taking a fatty meal, although the gallbladder area decreased significantly with time in both groups (p<0.001). It seems reasonable to conclude that patients with chronic hepatitis B probably have a relatively enlarged but functional, contractile gallbladder.