Computerized tomography and radionuclide scanning in hepatic disease: a retrospective study

This was a retrospective study of 117 patients, who had both computerized tomography (CT) and nuclear scans of the liver. In the evaluation of hepatic masses, the nuclear and CT scans, demonstrated 83% and 77% of the masses, respectively, in combination they demonstrated 97%. The nuclear scan proved to be a more sensitive procedure for demonstrating the presence of intrahepatic pathology. The CT scans were better able to demonstrate specific disease entities, such as biliary obstruction and fatty infiltration of the liver. CT was also able to evaluate adjacent organs. When used in combination, CT and nuclear scans tended to complement each other and in many cases were helpful in arriving at a more specific diagnosis.