Gallbladder ejection fraction and its relationship to sphincter of Oddi dysfunction.

Theoretically, relative distal common bile duct obstruction due to sphincter of Oddi dysfunction may be a cause of poor gallbladder evacuation observed on quantitative cholescintigraphy. In this study, the relationship of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction to the gallbladder ejection fraction by quantitative cholescintigraphy was explored. Eighty-one patients with biliary-type pain and otherwise normal evaluations underwent quantitative cholescintigraphy, sphincter of Oddi manometry, and ERCP.

Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction in patients with intact gallbladder: therapeutic response to endoscopic sphincterotomy.

Increasing evidence exists of the occurrence of sphincter of Oddi dysfunction in patients with an intact gallbladder. Optimal therapy for such patients has not been defined. From 1989 to 1991, 35 patients with sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (abnormal basal sphincter pressure > 40 mm Hg) and an intact gallbladder were identified.

Correlation of basal sphincter pressures measured from the bile duct and the pancreatic duct in patients with suspected sphincter of Oddi dysfunction.

If basal sphincter of Oddi pressures measured from the pancreatic duct and the bile duct are essentially equal, then measurement of basal pressures from only one duct would be adequate in evaluating sphincter of Oddi dysfunction. We report a series of 88 patients whom we evaluated with sphincter of Oddi manometry. Cannulation of both the biliary sphincter segment and pancreatic sphincter segment was achieved in these patients.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy and ERCP with sphincterotomy in an elderly patient with situs inversus.

Situs inversus viscerum (transposition of the viscera) is a rare condition with a genetic predisposition that is autosomal recessive. We present a patient with situs inversus, cholelithiasis, and choledocholithiasis who was successfully treated via laparoscopic cholecystectomy and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with sphincterotomy. This paper further expands the application of these techniques and shows that they can be safely and effectively applied in the setting of situs inversus, although attention must be paid to the details of left-right reversal.