Spontaneous disappearance of limy bile: report of a case with review of the literature.

Spontaneous disappearance of limy bile is extremely rare, and only four cases have so far been reported. This is the account of the fifth case, a 42-year-old woman, who spontaneously lost a stone incarcerated in the neck of the gallbladder and all of the limy bile, after symptoms suggestive of a transient obstructive jaundice. Various investigations including ultrasound, computed tomography, and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography suggested spontaneous passage of the stone through the cystic duct and the papilla of Vater, followed by limy bile. Apparently the patient's gallbladder had a contracting capacity. The literature on this subject is briefly reviewed.