Frequent occurrence of new hepatobiliary abnormalities after bone marrow transplantation: results of a prospective study using scintigraphy and sonography.

With hepatobiliary scintigraphy and sonography, we prospectively studied the occurrence of new hepatobiliary abnormalities in 18 patients before, and from 1 to 103 days after, bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Prior to BMT, all patients had normal hepatic uptake and visualization of the gallbladder by 60 min on scintigraphy, and no sludge, stones, or other abnormalities on sonography. After BMT, 16 patients (89%) developed new scintigraphic and/or sonographic hepatobiliary abnormalities. Fifteen patients had impaired liver uptake of mebrofenin, while 11 developed gallbladder uptake of mebrofenin, while 11 developed gallbladder sludge and/or stones, and 10 had gallbladder nonvisualization at 60 min. Nevertheless, no patient developed clinical or laboratory evidence of acute cholecystitis. New hepatobiliary abnormalities are more common during the first months post-BMT than clinically suspected, probably reflecting the combined effects of hepatotoxic chemoradiation therapy, graft-versus-host disease, and prolonged administration of parenteral alimentation. Evidence of acute cholecystitis is generally not found.