Type of gallstones and deaths from stroke and coronary heart disease among cholecystectomized patients.

A total of 841 Japanese patients who had undergone cholecystectomy for choleithiasis (550 for cholesterol stones and 291 for pigment stones) from 1951 to 1970 were investigated on death from stroke, coronary heart disease (CHD) and heart disease other than CHD in relation to the type of gallstones. Compared to patients with pigment stones, those having cholesterol stones had a 50% lower risk of dying from stroke which was statistically significant. The findings support the idea that westernization of Japanese diets may be responsible both for the decline in stroke mortality and for the changing pattern of gallstones in this country. The risk of CHD among cholesterol-stone patients was higher, but not significantly so, than that of pigment-stone patients whereas mortality from heart disease other than CHD did not differ much between the two groups. There were, however, few deaths from these diseases and the findings were therefore not conclusive.