The Lowest Prevalence of Cholelithiasis in the Americas - An Autopsy-based Study

OBJECTIVES: This study used autopsy to evaluate the prevalence of cholelithiasis and its associated risk factors in a population of healthy, young subjects who suffered a violent or natural death. METHODS: This study is a prospective evaluation of autopsies of 446 individuals from 2011 to 2013 in Brazil. Of that sample, 330 (74%) subjects died from violent deaths and 116 (26%) died naturally. The presence of biliary calculi, previous cholecystectomy, gender, age, ethnicity, body mass index (BMI) and alcohol use were evaluated. RESULTS: In the natural death group, 6.9% (95% CI 3.39 to 13.28)...