A scanning electron microscopic study of human cholesterol gallstones

Abstract

Structural studies on cholesterol gallstones have been the subject of relatively little investigation despite the fact that a number of authors have shown that the scanning electron microscope (SEM) can provide excellent visualization of their surface and internal structure. It is recognized that there are many types of gallstones but cholesterol is their main constituent in North America. Since major efforts are now being made clinically to dissolve cholesterol stones in vivo using bile acids and other agents, it was deemed useful to study by SEM the common multifacetted gallbladder stone since it is likely that the structure of such stones influence their dissolution. Multifacetted cholesterol gallstones obtained from human gallbladders were prepared for SEM using standard techniques. Stones were divided equally into two halves, one of which was mounted with its outer surface up, the other with its cut surface up, on an aluminum stud by means of conductive paint.