Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Cholangitis epidemiology and demographics
Introduction
Overview
Overview
Cholangitis is most prevalent in adults, with roughly 20% of the population suffering from some form of abdominal pain from gallstones passing through the bile duct into the digestive tract.
Epidemiology and Demographics
Epidemiology and Demographics
Prevalence
- Within a span of ten years, 15–26% of people will suffer at least one episode of biliary colic (abdominal pain due to the passage of gallstones through the bile duct into the digestive tract).[1]
- 2–3% of people will develop complications of obstruction in the form of acute cholangitis.
- The prevalence of gallstones increases with age and body mass index.
- The risk is also increased in those who lose weight rapidly (after bariatric surgery, for example) due to alterations in the composition of the bile that makes it prone to form stones.
Mortality rate
- In 1980, the mortality rate of acute cholangitis was more than 50000 per 100,000 individuals; 10000-30000 per 100,000 individuals in 1981-1991; 2700-10000 per 100,000 individuals after the year 2000.[2][3][4]
Age
Gender
- Gallstones are slightly more common in women than in men, and pregnancy increases the risk further.[1]
- The increased prevalence of gallstones in women is due to hormonal imbalance between estrogen and progesterone.
Race
- There is no racial predilection to cholangitis.
Developed countries
- In Western countries, about 15000 per 100,000 individuals have gallstones in their gallbladder, but the majority are unaware of this and have no symptoms.[1]
- Incidence rates range between 0.41 and 1.2 per 100,000 people per year._BMC_Gastroenterology_|_Full_Text-5|[5]
Underdeveloped countries
- Parasites, specifically including the species Ascaris, Opisthorchis, Clonorchis, Fasciola and Echinococcus, are commonly associated with cholangitis outside of the United States.[6]
- Ascaris is thought to be the etiologic agent of recurrent pyogenic cholangitis found in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Columbia, Italy, and South Africa.
References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Bateson MC (1999). “Fortnightly review: gallbladder disease”. BMJ. 318 (7200): 1745–8. PMC 1116086. PMID 10381713.
- ↑ Thompson JE, Pitt HA, Doty JE, Coleman J, Irving C (1990). “Broad spectrum penicillin as an adequate therapy for acute cholangitis”. Surg Gynecol Obstet. 171 (4): 275–82. PMID 2218831.
- ↑ Kimura Y, Takada T, Strasberg SM, Pitt HA, Gouma DJ, Garden OJ; et al. (2013). “TG13 current terminology, etiology, and epidemiology of acute cholangitis and cholecystitis”. J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Sci. 20 (1): 8–23. doi:10.1007/s00534-012-0564-0. PMID 23307004.
- ↑ Salek J, Livote E, Sideridis K, Bank S (2009). “Analysis of risk factors predictive of early mortality and urgent ERCP in acute cholangitis”. J Clin Gastroenterol. 43 (2): 171–5. doi:10.1097/MCG.0b013e318157c62c. PMID 18769362.
- _BMC_Gastroenterology_|_Full_Text_5-0|↑ “The prevalence, incidence and natural history of primary sclerosing cholangitis in an ethnically diverse population | BMC Gastroenterology | Full Text”.
- ↑ “RadioGraphics: Biliary Infections: Spectrum of Imaging Findings and Management”.
Editor-In-Chief:
C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Farwa Haideri [2], Amandeep Singh M.D.[3]