Gallstone disease is a major surgical problem in many populations; it is probably related to diet, especially excessive consumption of meat. The objective of this study was to determine the chemical composition of
gallstones and their association with neoplastic changes including
cholangiocarcinomas in cholecystectomised patients. The chemical composition of
gallstones from 40 patients (8 males and 32 females) was analyzed. This is a prospective study performed in Baquba teaching hospital in the period from 1/10/2012 to 1/1/2013 in which we collected the
gallstones for the patients who underwent
cholecystectomy, whether open or laparoscopic. The stones were classified according to their chemical composition as a mixed stones (MS), and examined using a stone analysis set (chemical qualitative method) for
calcium, magnesium, phosphate,
uric acid and
oxalate which was used
reagent for qualitative determination of main individual components of stones. The results of this study showed the highest incidence of
gallstones in the age group 40-49 was 13 cases followed by 11, 8 and 4 cases for age groups 30-39, 50-59, 20-29 and 60 and above, respectively. The chemical analysis showed the majority of
gallstones were mixed, 38 containing
calcium followed by 37 cases with
uric acid, 28 with
magnesium, and 25 and 22 stones with
oxalate and
phosphate, respectively. Microscopically, we confirmed neoplastic changes (17.5%) as
cholangiocarcinomas (CCCs) (7.55%) and dysplastic cells of
carcinoma in situ in 4 (10%), 31 (77.5%) cases were chronic
cholecystitis and 2 (5%) cases were
acute cholecystitis with
empyema out of bile duct disorders patients. In conclusion, majority of cases had mixed
gallstones that involved five and four of
inorganic chemicals of
calcium,
magnesium and
phosphate, the highest incidence of
gallstones in age group 40-49 years old was 13 cases, and neoplastic changes were confirmed (17.5%) including CCCs, (7.5%) and dysplastic cells of
carcinoma in situ (10%), while 31 (77.5%) cases were chronic
cholecystitis.