EVALUATION OF HEPATIC-FUNCTION USING TC-99M-GALACTOSYL HUMAN SERUM-ALBUMIN (GSA) SCINTIGRAPHY - COMPARISON WITH ANTIPYRINE PLASMA-CLEARANCE

Tc-99m-galactosyl human serum albumin (GSA) is a new scintigraphy agen t which binds specifically to asialoglycoprotein receptors on hepatocy tes, and can be used to evaluate hepatic function. Indocyanine green ( ICG) is hepatic blood flow-dependent, while antipyrine plasma clearanc e is independent of blood flow and thus antipyrine plasma clearance is an excellent parameter with which to assess liver function. In this s tudy, we investigated the relationship between GSA examination and ant ipyrine plasma clearance to assess the usefulness of GSA in evaluating metabolic function of the liver. Studies were performed on 22 patient s with liver diseases. Antipyrine plasma clearance measurement, ICG te sting and biochemical analysis of blood were performed at the same tim e as GSA examination. GSA HH15 and antipyrine plasma clearance showed a good correlation (r = -0.702, P < 0.0005). On the other hand, ICGR15 showed a poor correlation with antipyrine plasma clearance (r = 0.449 , P < 0.05). The results of this study suggest, that hepatic function determined using GSA is more closely related to the metabolic capacity of hepatocytes than to hepatic blood how.