[Comparative study of gallbladder volume and contraction in healthy subjects of various ages and sex by ultrasonography].

Gallbladder motor function moderates the enterohepatic circulation which is determinant in bile composition. Cholelithiasis due to cholesterol stones increases with age and is more frequent in women. We studied the effects of age and sex on the gallbladder volume and contraction in 160 healthy subjects. We used real time ultrasonography and the elipsoid method to calculate the volume and gallbladder contraction which was physiologically stimulated by a fatty meal. The results of the gallbladder contraction were: Group 1 female (young women): 82.2% (SD = 12.1), Group 1 male (young men): 86.0% (SD = 9.9), Group 2 female (adult women): 77.4% (SD = 9.4): Group 2 male (adult men): 75.8% (SD = 15.9); Group 3 female (elderly women): 83.6% (SD = 9.0) and Group 3 male elderly men): 77.3% (SD = 10.2). The fasting and postprandial volumes correlates directly with the age in both sexes. These differences were not statistically significant and we concluded that in absence of gallbladder pathology, the motor function of the gallbladder is not significantly modified by age and sex.