Is intrahepatic bile duct stone serious? How are intrahepatic bile duct stones formed?

Intrahepatic bile duct stones are a common disease in daily life. Many people are told that they have this disease during physical examinations. So, does this make intrahepatic bile duct stones serious? This issue has become a hot topic among people. In fact, intrahepatic bile duct stones are extremely harmful to human health. If not treated properly, they can easily cause serious complications.

Intrahepatic gallstones are a type of stone disease. Many friends want to know whether intrahepatic bile duct stones are serious. In fact, this disease can cause great harm to the patient's body. For the treatment of intrahepatic bile duct stones, we must first understand its cause and know its symptoms, so that we can prescribe the right medicine and treat it early. Understanding this will be of great help to our prevention work.

Intrahepatic bile duct stones are a type of bile duct stones, which refer to stones in the bile ducts above the confluence of the left and right hepatic ducts. It can exist alone or coexist with extrahepatic bile duct stones. Usually bilirubin stones. Intrahepatic bile duct stones are often accompanied by extrahepatic bile duct stones, which may lead to bile duct obstruction, local infection and secondary bile duct stenosis, making it difficult for the stones to be discharged on their own and causing the disease to persist. This disease can cause serious complications and is an important cause of death from benign biliary diseases.

Causes of intrahepatic bile duct stones

1. Glycoprotein mucus

Glycoprotein mucus is the matrix for the formation of hepatobiliary stones. The gallstone interstitium is a mucus substance mainly composed of glycoprotein, which is the framework and basis for the formation of gallstones by bonding various components of gallstones. Research on the interstitium of gallstones found that the interstitium of pigment stones is high, accounting for 10% of the interstitium in cholesterol stones and 36% of the interstitium in pigment stones. Pigment stones are caused by an increase in mucus on the basis of bile duct inflammation, which increases the coagulation mechanism and stone-forming core of bilirubin and calcium ions, and is the basis for promoting the formation of pigment stones.

2. Biliary obstruction

When bile duct is obstructed, the activity of free radicals in bile increases, resulting in increased bilirubin calcium precipitation. Recent studies have shown that oxygen free radicals are related to the formation of pigment stones. Biliary tract infection increases oxygen free radicals, which in turn induce bile duct inflammation and play an important role in the formation of bilirubin vinyl polymers.

3. Infection

Biliary tract infection and hepatobiliary stones. It is generally believed that bile tract infection, especially Escherichia coli infection, produces bacterial β-glucuronidase, which hydrolyzes conjugated bilirubin into free bilirubin. When the bile duct is infected, the amount of inflammatory mucus in the bile duct increases, the coagulation effect is enhanced, and with the participation of metal ions such as calcium ions, bile duct stones mainly composed of bilirubin calcium are formed.

4. Bile stasis

Changes in bile dynamics Due to bile duct stenosis, biliary obstruction or cystic dilatation of the bile duct, changes in bile dynamics, turbulence, stasis and bacterial infection may occur. Free bilirubin precipitates and mucus and purulent substances form brown-yellow bile sludge, which further aggravates bile duct obstruction, congestion, infection, and promotes the formation of gallstones.

5. Low protein

Low protein and hepatobiliary stones. A low-protein, high-carbohydrate diet reduces the content of the β-glucuronidase inhibitor glucaric acid 1-4-lactone, which is beneficial for β-glucuronidase to hydrolyze conjugated bilirubin into free bilirubin, which is insoluble in water and easily precipitates, forming the basis for stone formation.