The ultrasound survey of gallstone diseases of patients infected with Clonorchis sinensis in southern Taiwan.

Ultrasonography was used to evaluate the relationship between the gallstone diseases and infection with Clonorchis sinensis. One thousand and ninety-one Hakkanese in southern Taiwan were examined in the past 2 years. Among the 947 cases infected with clonorchiasis, 89 cases were found to have gallstone diseases, which included gallbladder stones (85 cases), common bile duct stones (three cases) and one case of intrahepatic duct stone, indicating a prevalence of 8.97, 0.32 and 0.11% respectively. The overall prevalence of gallstones in the infected group was 9.39%. In the other 144 cases without clonorchiasis infection, eight patients were found to have gallstone disease, which included gallbladder stone (six cases) and intrahepatic duct stone (two cases), indicating an incidence of gallstone of 4.16 and 1.39% respectively. The overall prevalence of gallstones in the non-infected group was 5.56%. A comparison between the infected and non-infected groups was made and showed no significant relationship between gallstone disease and clonorchiasis.