Hemobilia associated with hepatic artery aneurysms: scintigraphic detection with technetium-99m-labeled red blood cells.

Biliary tract bleeding is an unusual cause of upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Rupture of hepatic artery aneurysms is one of the least common etiologies of hemobilia. Both cholescintigraphy and [99mTc]red blood cell scintigraphy are useful in the diagnosis of this rare disorder. The combination of focal obstruction on cholescintigraphy and intermittent visualization of the major bile ducts on red blood cell scintigraphy should suggest the diagnosis of hemobilia and prompt an angiogram to determine the cause.