Although the clinical demonstration of hepatic damage in cholecystic disease is of great importance in the medical and surgical management of disease of the biliary tract, there is little definite knowledge of this subject recorded in the literature. Studies of the incidence of hepatic involvement in disease of the gallbladder have not been conclusive and have not clarified the relationship between the two diseases. The purpose of this paper is to present new evidence of hepatic injury in disease of the gallbladder as detected by a simple laboratory method.
The presence of hepatic damage in disease of the gallbladder has been explained in three ways. One group of investigators1 have stated the belief that the gallbladder is the primary source of infection and that the liver is involved by direct extension. Others have postulated that the liver acts as a bacterial filter of the body and is the chief