Occurrence of Cholelithiasis and Cholecystitis in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients with Long-Term Tracheostomy Invasive Ventilation

Abstract

We clarified the prevalence of cholelithiasis/cholecystitis in long-term tracheostomy invasive ventilation (TIV) patients in our hospital. We investigated the occurrence of cholelithiasis/cholecystitis in twenty-seven TIV patients over the past eight years. There were ten patients with cholelithiasis/cholecystitis. The underlying disease was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), except for 1 patient. Mean age was 56.2 ± 4.7 years and the average period to the attack of cholelithiasis/cholecystitis from TIV was 57.6 ± 15.1 months. Two patients of acute cholecystitis had acalculous cholecystitis. Five of the ten patients developed a severe state of cholecystitis and needed aggressive therapy. The prevalence of gallstones, symptom prevalence of asymptomatic cholelithiasis, the percentage of acalculous cholecystitis of acute cholecystitis in TIV patients was higher than in the general population. Therefore, it may be possible that TIV is a risk for cholelithiasis/cholecystitis. Some of the ALS patients with long-term TIV develop severe cholelithiasis/cholecystitis, and those facts should be considered in our daily clinical practice.