CHOLECYSTOPARESIS WITH DIABETIC AUTONOMIC NEUROPATHY

A 69-year-old male diabetic patient mas hospitalized with pneumonia in February 1996. Abdominal ultrasonography performed as a routine exami nation on admission revealed marked dilatation of gallbladder with a f asting maximal size of 25.7 cm(2) compared with 8.8+/-2.9 cm(2) evalua ted in 30 male healthy controls aged 67+/-8 years old. Four months aft er recovery from pneumonia, abnormal gallbladder dilatation remained u nchanged (25.0 cm(2)), while dilatation had not been observed on an ex amination performed 6 years earlier (9.8 cm(2)). Because of accompanyi ng neurological defects, we suppose that cholecystoparesis may be caus ed by progression of autonomic neuropathy in this patient with diabete s mellitus.