Prolonged opacification of the gallbladder after oral cholecystography: a reevaluation of its clinical significance.

The frequency of prolonged opacification of the gallbladder after oral cholecystography was determined in several conditions that are manifestly or reputedly associated with gallbladder dysfunction: in patients with gallstones, in cases of "biliary colic" with normal cholecystograms, in postvagotomy patients, and in diabetics. These groups were compared with asymptomatic controls and to patients with irritable bowel syndrome. A dietary fat intake of at least 50 g between the first and last films taken was ensured in all subjects. The effect of fat deprivation was separately studied in asymptomatic controls. Prolonged opacification was encountered in approximately two-thirds of patients with gallstones, in two-thirds of patients with "acalculous biliary colic," in two-thirds of healthy subjects deprived of fat, and in about one-third of postvagotomy patients and diabetics. It was not seen in a single patient with irritable bowel syndrome, and it was encountered in only 1 out of 17 controls whose diet included a fat supplement. These differences were highly significant (p less than 0.0001).