The pathologic implication of duodenal diverticula.

In a prospective study of 80 patients with duodenal diverticula and calculous biliary tract disease, bacteriocholia with typical intestinal bacteria was found in 51 of 71 patients, whereas, in cholelithiasis without duodenal diverticula, this complication was present in 278 of 809 patients. With an increasing distance between duodenal diverticula and the papilla of Vater, the rate of bacteriocholia decreases. Advancing age of the patients results in the augmentation of bacteriocholia. Bacteriocholia on the basis of duodenal diverticula seems to present an additional pathogenic factor for inflammatory biliary tract disease and pancreatitis. Consequently, the pathologic value of juxtapapillary duodenal diverticula is much more prominent than has so far been reported.