Case report: chenodeoxycholic acid therapy of intrahepatic radiolucent gallstones in a patient with Caroli's syndrome

Abstract

A 28-year-old man with intrahepatic cystic dilatations of the biliary tree (Caroli's syndrome) which contained multiple radiolucent gallstones was treated with 1 g of chenodeoxycholic acid per day. He had undergone cholecystectomy 4 years and surgical exploration of the common bile duct with papillotomy 2 years prior to chenodeoxycholic acid therapy. While no decrease in the number of stones could be detected by retrograde cholangiography 2 years after papillotomy, most of the stones had disappeared after 2 years of treatment with chenodeoxycholic acid.