Mercedes-Benz sign (gallbladder)

Last revised by Mohammad Taghi Niknejad ◉ on 5 Nov 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Amini B, Niknejad M, O'Shea P, et al. Mercedes-Benz sign (gallbladder). Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 21 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-1663

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-1663

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/1663?embed_domain=external.radpair.com%2527%255b0%255d%2527%255b0%255d

rID:

1663

Article created:

2 May 2008, Behrang Amini

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Behrang Amini had no recorded disclosures.

View Behrang Amini's current disclosures

Last revised:

5 Nov 2022, Mohammad Taghi Niknejad ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Mohammad Taghi Niknejad had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Mohammad Taghi Niknejad's current disclosures

Revisions:

18 times, by 16 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Gastrointestinal, Hepatobiliary

Sections:

Signs

Synonyms:

Mercedes-Benz sign in gallstones

In the gallbladder, the Mercedes-Benz sign describes a star-shaped pattern of gas-fissuring within gallstones initially described on an abdominal radiograph ².

Fissures, usually fluid-filled, are present in close to 50% of gallstones. Less than half of these fissured gallstones contain some amount of nitrogen gas ¹. The radiolucency caused by the gas usually appears in a triradiate pattern, reminiscent of the Mercedes-Benz logo.

Terminology

The terms crow's foot and star‐shaped were previously used to describe fissured gallstones. However, they were replaced by the Mercedes-Benz sign ⁴.

History and etymology

Friedrich August Walter first described stellate fissuring of gallstones in vitro in 1796. In 1931, Béla Breuer described their appearance on an abdominal radiograph ⁴.