133xe uptake in focal hepatic fat accumulation: CT correlation.

Irregular fatty infiltration of the liver appears as focal areas of decreased attenuation on computed tomography (CT) and often cannot be distinguished from other, clinically more significant space-occupying lesions. Six patients with CT and clinical findings suggestive of fatty infiltration had xenon-133 ventilation scans of the liver. Four of these patients showed uptake and retention of 133Xe in the corresponding area of the liver, confirming the presence of fatty infiltration. The two patients in whom there was no uptake or retention of xenon by the liver were subsequently proven to have liver abscess and metastatic adenocarcinoma, respectively.