Cholescintigraphy in acute and chronic cholecystitis.

Since the introduction of technetium-99m-labeled cholescintigraphic agents in the mid-1970s, there has been extensive investigation of their role in the evaluation of biliary tract disorders. These agents accurately assess the patency of the cystic and common bile ducts, and to date, their greatest impact has been on the diagnostic evaluation of suspected acute cholecystitis. This article reviews the use of 99mTc-iminodiacetic acid (IDA) derivatives in acute and chronic cholecystitis. Since acute cholecystitis is characterized by cystic duct obstruction, failure of the gallbladder to visualize following 99mTc-IDA administration is indicative of cystic duct obstruction and acute cholecystitis. Using this approach, cholescintigraphy has been shown to be highly sensitive, specific, and efficacious in the diagnosis of acute cholecystitis. Cholescintigraphy is now the procedure of choice for the detection of acute cholecystitis. Unlike its successful applications in acute cholecystitis, cholescintigraphy appears of limited value in chronic cholecystitis. Certain circumstances where cholescintigraphy is of value in chronic cholecystitis are discussed. Whether or not cholescintigraphy may play a greater role in the future in elucidating the pathogenesis of chronic cholecystitis by assessment of biliary kinetics remains unanswered.