[Gallstone composition and dissolution by chenodesoxycholic acid (author's transl)].

208 gallstones were collected in sequence and subjected to chemical analysis. Only 10.6% of these stones turned out to be purely composed by cholesterol and only these can be considered to be suited for therapy with chenodesoxycholic acid (CDC). Gallstones composed exclusively by cholesterol cannot be identified in vivo; therapy with CDS has to be followed closely by multiple X-ray and laboratory examinations; in addition there are many relapses after therapy with CDC. For these reasons we still tend to prefer surgery as the therapy of choice in gallstone disease.