EFFECTIVENESS OF LOVASTATIN THERAPY FOR G ALLSTONE DISSOLUTION IN ASYMPTOMATIC WOMEN

Background: There are no chilean reports on gallstone dissolution usin g oral medications. Aim: To measure the proportion of asymptomatic adu lt women eligible for gallstone dissolution therapy and to test the ef fectiveness and tolerance of lovastatin for this purpose. Subjects and methods: Three hundred fifty six women working at health care institu tion were subjected to a gallbladder ultrasound examination. Non pregn ant women with radiolucent gallstones of less than 2 cm 0 were invited to receive lovastatin 20 mg od and were followed during six months. R esults: Twenty two women had gallstones and eight eligible women recei ved lovastatin therapy. No reduction in stone size was observed in the se women. Conclusions: Less than half of asymptomatic women with galls tones are eligible for oral dissolution therapy. Lovastatin did not re duce gallstone size after six months of therapy.