Practical hepatobiliary imaging using pretreatment with sincalide in 139 hepatobiliary studies

Hepatobiliary studies were performed over a three-year period on 139 patients suspected of having cystic duct obstruction. Each patient was infused intravenously with sincalide, a C-terminal octapeptide of CCK, 15 minutes prior to the administration of the hepatobiliary imaging agent Tc-99m paraisopropyl iminodiacetic acid (PIPIDA). Analysis of the results demonstrated significant advantages in pretreating patients with sincalide in hepatobiliary studies in a small facility with a relatively large patient load. Most of our studies were completed within 2 hours without jeopardizing the sensitivity (97%) or accuracy (96%) of the test. The specificity (88%) was comparable to percentages reported by others. Most investigators have reported that chronic cholecystitis contributed to the majority of false-positive cases. In addition, inconsistency in the documentation of criteria for the determination of acute cholecystitis (surgical, radiologic, or histologic also could be a cause for such a discrepancy. Knowledge of some important variables may help improve the specificity of the test: an awareness of the following factors during scan interpretation: 1) the effectiveness of the sincalide pretreatment dose, 2) the patient's pretest status (fasting or nonfasting, postanalgesic medication or no analgesics), and 3) time limit for gallbladder visualization. With these variables in mind, the hepatobiliary imaging using pretreatment with sincalide is proven to be a practical procedure protocol with good sensitivity and accuracy as well as specificity.