Nuclear Medicine
The Internist's View
- Myron L. Lecklitner, MD;
- Martin L. Nusynowitz, MD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
Hepatobiliary Scanning In recent years, the development of technetium Tc 99m iminodiacetic acid derivatives (99mTc-IDA derivatives) and similar compounds for scintigraphic evaluation of the hepatobiliary system has constituted one of the most important contributions of nuclear medicine to clinical practice. Heretofore, only rose bengal sodium I 131 was available for scintigraphic evaluation of the hepatobiliary system, but dosimetry considerations precluded administration of sufficient quantities to enable satisfactory visualization. The99mTc-IDA derivatives have altered this situation, and hepatobiliary scintigraphy has its prime use in the exclusion of acute cholecystitis as the cause of acute intra-abdominal pain, tenderness, and muscular rigidity, which necessitates surgery.1 Scintigraphic visualization of the gallbladder following intravenous administration of the radiopharmaceutical virtually excludes acute cholecystitis as the diagnosis, because almost all cases are associated with cystic-duct obstruction, preventing ingress of material to the gallbladder. Nonvisualization of the gallbladder when liver function is normal is compatible
