THE ROLE OF HEPATOBILIARY SCINTIGRAPHY IN CYSTIC-FIBROSIS

This was a prospective open study that examined the quantitative and q ualitative analysis of hepatobiliary scintigraphy (DISIDA) in detectin g liver involvement in cystic fibrosis (CF). Forty-four adult and pedi atric patients (median age, 12.1 years; range, 1.1-36.3 years) were di vided into three groups: group 1, no evidence of liver involvement (n = 8); group 2, biochemical evidence of liver involvement on two or mor e occasions (n = 26); and group 3, clinical evidence of Liver disease (n = 10), In groups 1 and 2, the most common qualitative scintigraphic finding was focal intrahepatic retention of tracer (26/34 patients, 1 2 of whom had normal findings on ultrasonography). This finding corres ponds to focal cholestasis and may warrant treatment with the choleret ic agent ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), In the group 3 patients, the abn ormal qualitative scintigraphic appearances (heterogeneous uptake of t racer and nodular liver outline) added little to the findings on ultra sonography; however, these patients had a prolonged mean hepatic clear ance time compared with those in groups 1 and 2 (one-way ANOVA; P < .0 15). It is proposed that scintigraphy with DISIDA has a role in the de tection of early Liver involvement in cystic fibrosis.