The impact of age and nutritional status on the parameters of the gallbladder in healthy individuals of the azerbaijani population

Abstract

Background. The results of the surgical treatment of gallstone disease and its complications do not satisfy clinicians completely. Improvement of the treatment results mainly depends on timely diagnostics. In everyday practice, an ultrasound examination is widely used in diagnosing hepatobiliary disorders. The detected changes are assessed by a sonologist. It is necessary for the sonologist to know anatomical features of the gallbladder to give a correct assessment. Purpose. To study ultrasound parameters of the gallbladder in healthy individuals of the Azerbaijani population and compare them between different groups based on age and nutritional status. Materials and methods. Our study included 150 healthy individuals aged from 18 to 79 years. There were 43 (28.7%) men and 107 (71.3%) women. Healthy individuals were strictly selected according to certain criteria. Taking into account age of the examined individuals, we divided them into three groups: Group 1 (50 individuals) – 18–24 years old; Group 2 (50 individuals) – 25–64 years old; Group 3 (50 individuals) – 67–79 years old. We determined their nutritional status according to the body mass index (BMI): 90 (60.0%) individuals had normal BMI (18.5–24.9), 34 (22.7%) individuals had overnutrition (BMI 25.0–29.9), and 26 (17.3%) individuals had undernutrition (BMI 17.0–18.4). In all 150 individuals, we measured the length (A) and the width (B) of the gallbladder, the A/B ratio, the area of the transverse section, the volume of the gallbladder, and the gallbladder wall thickness in grayscale mode. Results. We performed a comparative statistical analysis of the obtained parameters of the gallbladder depending on age and BMI. We also studied the impact of age and BMI on the length, width, area, volume of the gallbladder, thickness of the gallbladder wall, and the length-to-width ratio. Conclusions. An increase in the width, area, volume, and gallbladder wall thickness, which correlated with the increase in age, was found in healthy individuals of the Azerbaijani population that had different BMI. There were no changes in the length of the gallbladder connected with the increase in age and BMI changes.