Reaction of Gall-Bladder to Faradic Stimulation of Stomach.

Abstract

In a previous publication attention was called to a case of spontaneous emptying of the human gall bladder during fasting, in which the patient reported the occurrence of hunger pangs during the interval in which cholecystograms were recording a marked reduction in size of the gall bladder.1 This was interpreted as being in harmony with Boldireff's observations that during fasting, bladder bile is discharged into the duodenum synchronously with gastric hunger contractions.Very recently, we have observed rhythmic tonus changes of the gall bladder, in fasting cats, that are concurrent with rhythmic peristaltic contractions of the stomach. These observations, made on unanesthetized animals 7 to 10 hours after operation, were recorded by series of x-rays taken at intervals of 30 seconds—the gall bladder being visualized by roentgen-opaque oil, and the stomach by its content of air. The intervals between phases, as well as the duration of the contraction waves (1 to 3 minutes), seem to correspond to the period...