Detection of complications after liver transplantation by technetium-99m mebrofenin hepatobiliary scintigraphy

Fifty-five hepatobiliary scintigraphic studies using 99mTc-Mebrofenin were performed in 52 orthotopic liver transplant patients to evaluate suspected biliary complications, namely biliary extravasation and extrahepatic obstruction. Final diagnosis was made by analysis of the clinical course and other procedures. Three out of three studies of biliary leak and four out of five studies of biliary obstruction were detected. There were no false positives in either complication. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 100, 100, 100% for ectravasation and 80, 100, 98% for obstruction, respectively. Hepatobiliary scintigraphy appears to be an accurate means of detecting biliary leak and obstruction associated with the transplanted liver.