Etiological Approach of Cholelithiasis in the Beni Mellal-Khenifra Area in Morocco

Aims - The prevalence of cholelithiasis is unknown in the Beni Mellal-Kh�nifra area in Morocco. This research works aims to achieve an approach to the multiple factors influencing the presence of cholelithiasis in the Beni Mellal-Kh�nifra area. Sampling and Methods � The present study has been carried out during the year 2018 on 226 patients at the Beni Mellal Regional Hospital in Morocco. Observations by polarizing light optical microscopy have been performed on gallstones in order to have selective samples for the constitutional analysis. After having been dried during 24 hours at room temperature these gallstones underwent morphological analysis. A Classification by the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method has been applied to individuals that are gallstones samples and 8 variables that are: 'age' 'gender' 'water quality' daily water intake; Socio-economic background and personal and family history; 'gallstone type' cholecystitis type. Results - During a four months study, 226 gallstones have been collected from 226 patients of the Beni Mellal regional hospital in Morocco. From each patient we have chosen one gallstone that relatively represents the eventual other gallstone from his gallbladder. The analysis of the results showed a clear female predominance, 198 women of the total collected gallstones with a 87.6 % frequency, compared to the case of men (12.4 % frequency). Such a result corresponds to 7 as a (woman/man) gender ratio. From the obtained results by the Principal Component Analysis method, we note that there are correlations, positive or negative, between some factors that may influence the presence of the cholelithiasis. Conclusions. The present work confirms that cholelithiasis in the Moroccan Beni Mellal-Kh�nifra area is also predominantly female. In addition, the study confirms that cholelithiasis is multifactorial since diverse factors may influence the presence of this disease.