Unusual scintigraphic appearance of perforation of the common bile duct

This report deals with the diagnosis of perforation of the common bile duct into the lesser sac by HIDA cholescintigraphy. The first hour images after injection were suggestive of biliary obstruction. Subsequent images demonstrated unusual accumulations of the activity into the lesser sac and retroperitoneal potential spaces. Careful correlation between scintigraphic and surgical findings were undertaken. The case is reported to demonstrate the scintigraphic findings in choledochal perforation and to stress the importance of carrying out late images when the initial ones are abnormal.