A method and apparatus are disclosed for treating a patient having cholesterol calculi which involves infusing into the biliary tract of said patient a C.sub.5 -C.sub.6 ester having a boiling point in the range of 80°-140° C. in an amount and at a flow rate effective to at least partially dissolve said calculi rapidly. It is found that the ester has little or no tendency to accumulate in the blood stream when perfused into a patient, particular as compared to methyl t-butyl ether (MTBE), the solvent widely used at present. The invention also encompasses dissolving cholesterol calculi by exposing such calculi to contact with effective quantities of those solvent compounds. The method preferably uses a high flow rate catheter pumping system for infusing a gallstone dissolution solvent into the gallbladder of a patient and aspirating the gallstone dissolution solvent from the gallbladder, and a unit measure container of the solvent. The preferred esters are n-propyl acetate, isopropyl acetate, ethyl propionate and ethyl isobutyrate, with ethyl propionate being the most preferred. Contact flow rates are sufficiently high to insure fluid turbulence in the biliary tract region surrounding the calculi.
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