Suspected Acute Cholecystitis Comparison of Hepatobiliary Scintigraphy Versus Ultrasonography

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Abstract
Patients (195) with suspected acute cholecystitis (AC) underwent both hepatobiliary scintigraphy (HBS) and static gray-scale ultrasonography (US) to assess the relative value of each imaging modality in this clinical setting. HBS was performed after the i.v. injection of 5 mCi Tc-99m iprofenin. Abnormal HBS indicative of AC visualized the common bile duct, but not the gallbladder, within 1-4 h after tracer administration. Abnormal US indicative of AC demonstrated cholelithiasis and/or gallbladder wall edema. In this series, HBS surpassed US in sensitivity (98.3% vs. 81.4%), specificity (90.2% vs. 60.2%), predictive value of an abnormal test (91.4% vs. 51.6%) and predictive value of a normal test (100% vs. 92%), HBS should be the procedure of choice for the rapid detection of AC.