QUANTITATIVE BILIARY DYNAMICS - INTRODUCTION OF A NEW NON-INVASIVE SCINTIGRAPHIC TECHNIQUE

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 24  (3) , 217-223
Abstract
A 99mTc-labeled hepatobiliary agent [99mTc-N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl-carbamoylmethyl)iminodiacetic acid] was used to measure the partition of hepatic bile between gallbladder and intestine in 16 normal patients and 9 patients with cholelithiasis. In normal subjects, the fractions of the hepatic bile that flow into the gallbladder and the small intestine were widely variable, with mean values of 69 .+-. 7% (SE) and 31 .+-. 7%, respectively. Bile reflux into the common hepatic duct was rare, occurring during the first 2/3 of the gallbladder ejection period and only when the ejection fraction was > 59%. The gallbladder''s mean latent period, ejection period, ejection fraction and ejection rate were 2 .+-. 1 min, 11 .+-. 1 min, 59 .+-. 4% and 5.9%/min, respectively. In patients with cholelithiasis, the fraction of hepatic bile flowing into the gallbladder was normal, but the ejection fraction was significantly reduced (P < 0.005). For an equivalent dose of cholecystokinin, the gallbladder in cholelithiasis is less responsive than in normal subjects.