Incidental diagnosis of asymptomatic neonatal cholelithiasis: case report and literature review

J Perinatol. 1995 Jul-Aug;15(4):314-7.

Abstract

A case of asymptomatic cholelithiasis detected incidentally at the age of 3 days in an otherwise healthy newborn infant is presented. The hospitalization was uneventful. At follow-up the biliary stones had completely resolved at the age of 3 months with no symptoms. Fourteen similar cases of incidentally diagnosed neonatal cholelithiasis were found in the literature. Clinical course was benign; 12 cases (86%) were asymptomatic and eight (57%) had spontaneous resolution by the age of 6 months. We conclude that incidentally diagnosed neonatal cholelithiasis usually has a benign course with about a 50% chance of spontaneous resolution during the first 6 months of life. In cases of persistent gallstones by age 6 months, no treatment is needed except for long-term follow-up.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Cholelithiasis* / diagnosis
  • Cholelithiasis* / diagnostic imaging
  • Cholelithiasis* / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Ultrasonography