The application of caerulein to cholangiography.

Caerulein was applied to oral cholecystography and the opacity of the common bile duct was evaluated at intervals. To 127 subjects whose gallbladder had been visualized by cholecystography was administered caerulein by intramuscular route in a dose of 0.2 mug per kg of body weight. As a result: 1. The visualization of the common bile duct reached its maximum 15 minutes after administration of caerulein (52% of the subjects); in total, 62.2% of the subjects responded to this cholecystography. 2. The visualization by caerulein was superior to that by the yolk both in its rate and intensity. 3. The cholangiogram taken after administration of caerulein was preferably available for diagnosis of bile duct lesions. Caerulein used for a pretreatment of drip infusion cholangiography (DIC) remarkably improved the picture in 3 of the 10 subjects in whom DIC alone had failed to show the bile duct. Thus, the application of caerulein to cholangiography facilitated diagnosis of bile duct lesions.