Hepatobiliary scintigraphy in the diagnosis of AIDS-related sclerosing cholangitis

Twenty human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients were studied who presented with right upper quadrant abdominal pain, with or without abnormal biochemical liver function tests, in whom AIDS-related sclerosing cholangitis (ASC) was suspected. The results obtained from hepatobiliary scintigraphy using 99Tcm-IODIDA were compared with data from endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), ultrasound and histological data from liver biopsy or post mortem. 99Tcm-IODIDA was abnormal in 14 patients. Liver biopsy, ERCP or post mortem confirmed ASC in 11 patients of whom 10 had an abnormal 99Tcm-IODIDA study. Ultrasound was performed in eight of the patients with confirmed ASC but was abnormal in only five of these. One patient with mild ASC on ERCP and Kaposi's sarcoma had a normal 99Tcm-IODIDA. In HIV-positive patients with right upper quadrant pain, imaging with 99Tcm-IODIDA provides a non-invasive screening test which may help to determine those patients who should be referred for ERCP.