Abstract: Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the application of preoperative bile CT value in the diagnosis of patients with gallbladder muddy stones.Methods 72 patients with routine imaging false-negative gallbladder muddy stones and 40 patients undergoing gallbladder excision due to liver surgery were enrolled in Hepatobiliary Surgery of PLA General Hospital between September 2018 and September 2020, and all patients underwent abdominal CT scan. Serum interleukin-6 (IL-6), procalcitonin (PCT), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were obtained. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was applied to predict the diagnostic value.Results There were no significant differences in changes of liver function tests and blood parameters between the two groups (P>0.05); the bile CT value in gallbladder stone group was significantly higher than that in control group [(66.01±18.24) Hu vs. (25.40±8.23) Hu, P<0.05; there was no significant differences as respect to serum cytokines and PCT levels; the ROC curves analysis showed that the AUC, sensitivity and specificity were 0.954, 92.3% and 91.0%, respectively as the bile CT value greater than 25.60 Hu was set as the cut-off-value for the diagnosis of gallbladder muddy stones.Conclusion The imaging examination shows that bile CT value in patients with false-negative gallbladder muddy stones is significantly higher than that in the subjects with normal gallbladder without stone. The accuracy of bile CT value is relatively higher in the diagnosis of gallbladder muddy stones.

Key words: Gallbladder stone, Muddy stone, Bile, Computerized tomography, Diagnostic trial