Passage of Cholesterol Through the Mucosa of the Gallbladder

For the past number of years the question of the etiology of cholesterosis of the gallbladder has assumed widespread interest. In a series of 5,000 gallbladders removed at operation, MacCarty,1in 1919, found cholesterosis of the gallbladder to be present in 18 per cent of his cases. In 1921, Mayo2found cholesterosis in 39 per cent of 1,254 cases of disease of the gallbladder. Mentzer3in 1926 published autopsy reports of 612 cases, with an incidence of cholesterosis as high as 38 per cent. In 1929, Illingworth4noted cholesterosis in 21 of 100 consecutive gallbladders removed at operation. Anywhere from 20 to 50 per cent of these cases of cholesterosis were associated with gallstones, usually composed of pure cholesterol. Cholesterosis, so named by Mentzer5in 1925, is a pathologic condition of the mucosa of the gallbladder, consisting macroscopically of tiny yellowish granules lying beneath the