Ultrasonography of the gallbladder was performed in 3 groups of dogs:
30 clinically healthy dogs, 50 dogs with hepatobiliary disease, and 50
dogs with diseases other thats hepatobiliary disease. The gallbladder
was evaluated for the presence of sludge (echogenic material without
acoustic shadowing), Maximal gallbladder length, width, height, and ar
ea mere measured as well as the gallbladder wall thickness. The relati
ve sludge area was calculated as the ratio of sludge area over gallbla
dder area on longitudinal images. No significant difference was found
in the prevalence of gallbladder sludge among healthy dogs (53%), dogs
with hepatobiliary diseases (62%), and clogs with other diseases (48%
). The mean age of dogs with sludge was higher than the mean age of do
gs without sludge in dogs with hepatobiliary disease and dogs with oth
er diseases (p < 0.05). The mean relative sludge area did not differ s
ignificantly among the 3 groups. A trend to larger gallbladder dimensi
ons in dogs with sludge compared to dogs without sludge was detected w
ithin the 3 groups. The gallbladder wall thickness was not different b
etween dogs with and without sludge within the 3 groups, However, the
gallbladder wall was more frequently isoechoic than hyperechoic to the
liver in dogs with sludge than in dogs without sludge. The results of
this study indicate that gallbladder sludge, in dogs, is not particul
arly associated with hepatobiliary disease and should he considered an
incidental finding.