Quantitative hepatobiliary scintigraphy in normal cats and in cats with experimental cholangiohepatitis

Quantitative hepatobiliary scintigraphy using Tc-99m-mebrofenin was perform ed on eight normal cats and on the same cats after induction of experimenta l cholangiohepatitis by infection with the liver fluke Platynosomum concinn um, Hepatobiliary scintigraphy was performed 3 times at 10 weeks, 4 months and 6 months after infection. In addition, routine biochemical tests, hepat ic ultrasound and ultrasound guided hepatic biopsy samples were obtained at the same time points, and the results compared with hepatobiliary scintigr aphy, The normal hepatic extraction fraction was determined to be 85%, and the normal hepatic excretion half time (T-1/2) was 14 minutes, There was no significant change in scintigraphic parameters compared to pre-infection v alues at any time following infection with the liver fluke. No correlation between scintigraphic parameters and histologic scores was found; however, significant correlation was identified between parasite burden and histolog ic scores 6 months following infection. Despite the presence of severe mult ifocal histologic abnormalities, minimal clinical, biochemical and scintigr aphic derangements were identified using this model of cholangiohepatitis. based on this study, hepatobiliary scintigraphy appears to be an insensitiv e test for structural hepatobiliary abnormalities. The role of hepatobiliar y scintigraphy in functional hepatobiliary abnormalities of the feline live r has not been determined.