Radiology, Vol 179, 699-701, Copyright © 1991 by Radiological Society of North America
Shock wave lithotripsy of gallstones: results and 12-month follow-up in 174 patients
WE Torres, BR Baumgartner, RC Nelson and SJ Morris
Stone Treatment Center, Crawford Long Hospital, Atlanta, GA 30365.
At the authors' institution, as part of the on-going Dornier National
Biliary Lithotripsy Study, 174 patients with gallstones were randomly
assigned to receive either ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) or placebo for 6
months after undergoing extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL). Six
weeks after ESWL, 40 (23%) patients were re-treated for gallstone fragments
larger than 5 mm in diameter. No significant difference in the UDCA- and
placebo-treated patients was noted. The overall 6- and 12- month stone-free
rates for all patients with initially noncalcified stones were as follows:
UDCA patients, 31% and 36%, respectively, and placebo patients, 21% and
23%, respectively (P less than .05). In patients with a single,
noncalcified gallstone that was at most 20 mm in diameter, the 12-month
stone-free rates were as follows: UDCA patients, 60%, and placebo patients,
33% (P less than .01). Patients with noncalcified stones that were 11-20 mm
in diameter who were treated with UDCA had a higher rate of stone clearance
than placebo patients. At 6 months, the authors' previous study
demonstrated no significant difference in the two groups of patients.
However, the stone-free rate at 12 months was noted to be significantly
higher for patients with a single, noncalcified stone that was at most 20
mm in diameter begun on UDCA than for all other groups of patients.
