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Previous Volume 328:412-421 February 11, 1993 Number 6 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Gallstones are a major cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. In the United States alone, the diagnosis and treatment of gallstone disease accounted for more than $5 billion in direct costs in 1990, including a half million cholecystectomies¹. Progress in the understanding and treatment of gallstones has been rapid during the past decade. The decades-long supremacy of open surgical cholecystectomy as therapy for gallstones has been challenged by gallstone-dissolution techniques and shock-wave lithotripsy and has been overthrown by laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This review will summarize current knowledge of the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of gallstone disease, with emphasis . . . [Full Text of this Article]

The Pathogenesis of Gallstones

Epidemiology of Gallstones

Clinical Presentations of Gallstone Disease

The Diagnosis of Gallstone Disease

Who Needs Treatment for Gallstones?

Open Surgical Cholecystectomy -- The Former Gold Standard

Oral Dissolution Therapy

Contact Dissolution Therapy

Extracorporeal Biliary Lithotripsy

Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Common-Bile-Duct Stones

Conclusions

Source Information

From the Departments of Medicine, Divisions of Gastroenterology, New England Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Kaplan at the G.I. Division, Box 233, New England Medical Center, 750 Washington St., Boston, MA 02111.

References

Related Letters:

Pathogenesis and Treatment of Gallstones
McMahon A. J., Baxter J. N., O'Dwyer P., Lee J. G., Leung J. W., Cotton P. B., Hofmann A. F., Amelsberg A., vanSonnenberg E., Vakil N., Everbach E. C., Knyrim K., Johnston D. E., Kaplan M. M.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1993; 328:1854-1855, Jun 24, 1993. Correspondence

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