acute suppurative cholangitis

Acute suppurative cholangitis is an acute suppurative infection of the biliary tract caused by biliary obstruction (most commonly due to gallstones), leading to bile stasis and a rapid increase in pressure within the bile ducts. The main infecting organisms are Gram-negative bacilli, with Escherichia coli being the most common. The onset of this disease is acute and fulminant, and it is one of the main causes of death in patients with gallstone disease in China.