Pigment gallstones of the common bile duct in infancy.

Ten infants of less than 6 months of age presented with cholestatic jaundice and gallstones. Jaundice occurred after a lag period, and sepsis was present in three children. Ultrasound examination showed dilatation of intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts in eight patients and detected cholelithiasis in three. Percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography and/or surgery allowed separation of the patients into two groups: (i) six children with lithiasis in the distal common bile duct, and (ii) four children with lithiasis associated with bile duct perforation at the junction between the cystic and common bile ducts with gallstones probably secondary to bile stasis and infection. Surgical treatment was confined to removal of calculi and drainage in eight children; biliary reconstructive surgery was necessary in the other two who had serious biliary duct lesions. No recurrence was observed after 1 to 7 years. The pigmentary nature of cholelithiasis was established by stone morphology in all cases, and by bile and stone analysis in several cases.