Human health and medicine

Cholecystectomy

Cholecystectomy is surgical removal of the gallbladder, mainly for symptomatic gallstones. First done openly by Langenbuch in 1882; laparoscopic since Mühe (1985) and Mouret (1987); main risk is bile duct injury (0.04–0.6%).

Cholecystitis

Cholecystitis is gallbladder inflammation, usually from a gallstone blocking the cystic duct; acute or chronic, calculous or acalculous. Diagnosed by ultrasound and HIDA; treated with antibiotics and early laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Cholecystography

Cholecystography is x-ray imaging of the gallbladder after a contrast medium is swallowed or injected. Introduced in the 1920s, it was the principal test for gallstones until ultrasound displaced it.

Cholecystokinin

Cholecystokinin (CCK), also called pancreozymin, is a gut peptide hormone discovered in 1928 by Ivy and Oldberg, structurally identified in 1968 as sulfated CCK-33, that contracts the gallbladder, stimulates pancreatic enzyme secretion, and signals satiety.

Cholecystokinin receptor

Cholecystokinin receptors (CCK1R/CCKAR, CCK2R/CCKBR): class A GPCRs for CCK and gastrin. CCK1R needs sulfated CCK, couples Gs/Gq; CCK2R is the gastrin receptor, couples Gq; cloned 1992, cryo-EM structures 2022.

Cholecystostomy

Cholecystostomy, also known as percutaneous cholecystostomy, drains the gallbladder through a catheter placed through the abdominal wall, mainly to treat acute cholecystitis in patients unfit for surgery.

Choledochoduodenostomy

Choledochoduodenostomy is a surgical operation creating a direct connection between the common bile duct and the duodenum, most often performed for recurrent bile duct stones or benign strictures.

Choledochojejunostomy

Choledochojejunostomy is a surgical operation that joins the common bile duct to the jejunum, relieving biliary obstruction, most commonly from an obstructing periampullary mass of pancreatic or duodenal origin.

Choledochoscopy

Choledochoscopy is direct endoscopic visualization of the common bile duct, performed intraoperatively or peroral during ERCP to remove stones, evaluate strictures, and assess tumors; first performed in 1923.

Cholera

Cholera, also called Asiatic cholera, is an acute diarrheal infection from Vibrio cholerae spread via contaminated water and food; seventh pandemic since 1961, treatable with oral rehydration solution and preventable with WASH and oral cholera vaccines.

Oct 22, 2026

Cholera epidemic in the Balkan Wars

The cholera epidemic in the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913 spread through the armies and civilians of the Balkans, prompting the first large-scale use of cholera vaccination in Greece.

Cholestasis

Cholestasis, also known as biliary stasis, is the reduction or stoppage of bile flow, occurring within or outside the liver and causing jaundice, dark urine, pale stools, and itching.

Cholestatic pruritus

Cholestatic pruritus, also called cholestatic itch, is severe non-histaminergic itching in cholestatic liver disease such as PBC, PSC, and intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy; treated stepwise with cholestyramine, rifampicin, opioid antagonists, sertraline, and IBAT inhibitors.

Cholesteatoma

Cholesteatoma: a benign keratin cyst of the middle ear and mastoid that erodes bone. Also called pearly tumor; treated surgically by canal wall up or down mastoidectomy, with 39% cumulative recurrence at 15 years.

Cholesteatoma of external auditory canal

External auditory canal cholesteatoma (EACC), also called canal cholesteatoma, is a rare keratin-filled, bone-eroding ear canal lesion, distinguished from keratosis obturans by osteonecrosis and treated by debridement or surgery.

Oct 20, 2026

Cholesteatoma of middle ear

Middle ear cholesteatoma: benign but destructive keratin squamous epithelium cyst in the middle ear, also called acquired or congenital cholesteatoma, causing bone erosion, hearing loss, and treated by mastoidectomy surgery.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol: a 27-carbon waxy sterol in all cell membranes, precursor of hormones, vitamin D, and bile acids; made by the body, carried by LDL and HDL, and central to atherosclerosis.

Cholesterol atheroembolism

Cholesterol atheroembolism, or cholesterol embolization syndrome, is a systemic disease in which cholesterol crystals from ruptured aortic plaques lodge in small arteries, causing ischemic and inflammatory multiorgan damage, classically blue toes, renal failure, and eosinophilia after vascular procedures or anticoagulation.

Cholesterol embolism

Cholesterol embolism (atheroembolism, cholesterol crystal embolization, blue toe syndrome): cholesterol crystals from ruptured atherosclerotic plaques occlude small arteries, damaging kidneys, skin, gut, brain, and eyes; mostly iatrogenic, biopsy-diagnosed, poor prognosis.

Cholesterolosis of gallbladder

Cholesterolosis of gallbladder, also called strawberry gallbladder, is a benign accumulation of cholesterol esters in mucosal macrophages, found in 9-26% of surgical series, usually symptomless, not linked to gallbladder cancer.

Choline deficiency

Choline deficiency: inadequate intake of the essential nutrient choline, causing fatty liver, liver damage, and muscle damage; susceptibility varies by sex, PEMT genetics, pregnancy, and parenteral nutrition.

Choline salicylate

Choline salicylate is a choline salt of salicylic acid, an NSAID used mainly as a topical oral gel for mouth ulcers, cold sores, and denture sore spots.

Cholinergic

Cholinergic: relating to acetylcholine, the first identified neurotransmitter. Covers cholinergic neurons, nicotinic and muscarinic receptors, ChAT/VAChT/CHT-1 machinery, basal forebrain Ch1-Ch4 groups, and the cholinergic hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease.

Cholinergic neuron

Cholinergic neurons are nerve cells that synthesize and release acetylcholine (ACh) as their neurotransmitter; cell bodies are mainly located in the basal forebrain, brainstem, and striatum.

Cholinergic urticaria

Cholinergic urticaria (CholU, heat bumps) is a chronic inducible urticaria causing small itchy wheals when body temperature rises and sweating begins. Exercise triggers nearly 9 in 10 cases; antihistamines are first-line, omalizumab for refractory disease.

Chondrodermatitis nodularis

Chondrodermatitis nodularis (CNH, Winkler disease, chondrodermatitis nodularis chronica helicis) is a benign, painful inflammatory nodule of the ear's helix or antihelix, 4-6 mm, caused by pressure and poor blood supply, often mistaken for skin cancer.

Chondrodysplasia with joint dislocations, gPAPP type

Chondrodysplasia with joint dislocations, gPAPP type (gPAPP deficiency, OMIM 614078) is an extremely rare autosomal recessive skeletal dysplasia caused by BPNT2/IMPAD1 mutations on 8q12, marked by prenatal short stature, congenital joint dislocations, cleft palate, and brachydactyly.

Oct 20, 2026

Chondrodysplasia-difference of sex development syndrome

Chondrodysplasia-difference of sex development syndrome, or Nivelon-Nivelon-Mabille syndrome (OMIM 600092), is an extremely rare autosomal recessive HHAT-related disorder combining 46,XY complete gonadal dysgenesis with severe chondrodysplastic dwarfism, first described in 1992 in two siblings.