Assessment of the utility of gallbladder imaging with 99mTc-IDA

Cholescintigraphy was performed in 113 patients of whom 38 had normal gallbladders, 37 had acute cholecystitis and 38 had chronic cholecystitis. The radiopharmaceuticals used in the study were either 99mTc-dimethyl acetanilide iminodiacetic acid or 99mTc-paraisopropyl acetanilide iminodiacetic acid, both of which performed equally well. All patients with non-visualized gallbladders had cholecystitis, but visualization did not exclude disease. The rapidity of obtaining the results (within one hour), the complete absence of untoward reactions to the radiopharmaceuticals, the much lower frequency of subtle or indeterminate results, the ability to render useful information in the presence of moderate jaundice and the lack of interference from overlying intestinal contents establishes these radionuclide agents as superior to both radiographic oral and intravenous cholangiography in the investigation of the acute abdomen.