Microbiology and histological study of gallbladder among acute and chronic cholecystitis in Babylon City, Iraq

The current study aimed to identify the bacteria from the gallbladder taken during cholecystectomy of patients with acute and chronic cholecystitis of calculus and acalculus type. The study included 100 patients taken randomly (85 women and 15 men) undergoing cholecystectomy at the general teaching Hilla Hospital from September 2016 to June 2017. For each patient, two samples were taken, which included tissue and stone (if present). All samples were cultured on different media for full bacteriological identification. The infection appears in both sexes, but the rate of infection in women (85%) was higher than men (15%). The most affected age group in both sexes was between 35 and 45 years (30%). Clinically, chronic cholecystitis was the most common (84%) compared with acute cholecystitis (16%). The results of bacterial isolation appeared to be 75% for gallbladder tissue samples and 25% for stones culture. The total number of isolated bacterial samples were 80. Gram-negative bacteria were predominant and represented 86% whereas the Gram-positive group was 13%. The most common bacterial isolates were Salmonella typhi (20%) as Gram-negative bacteria and Enterococcus faecalis (45%) as Gram-positive bacteria. Cholesterol stones were the most common types of gallstones (60%) followed by pigment stone (40%) and mixed type (32%). Also, the study showed changes in the histological structure of the gallbladder, which were characterized by the expansion of the cavity and congestion of the blood vessels in the follicular layer and an increase in the amount of lymphatic tissue diffused in the layers of the gallbladder wall.