UNLABELLED Dynamic cholescintigraphy (DCG) is a valid technique for evaluating gallbladder emptying. Cholecystokinin (CCK) as a slow infusion is recommended as a contraction stimulus. The normal ejection fraction (EF) has been shown to be reproducible, although the reproducibility of abnormal results has not been investigated. The aims of the present study were to standardize the CCK administra...

BACKGROUND Endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) is widely used for the removal of stones from the bile duct, but stones recur in about one fifth of patients. AIMS To investigate hepatic clearance by quantitative cholescintigraphy (QC) in patients after EST and to discern the relationship between biliary emptying and stone recurrence. METHODS One hundred and forty nine patients who had EST and cl...

Biliary excretion scintigraphy with a cholagogic test meal may be used to assess patients with suspected disorders of gall bladder motility. The interpretation of results is frustrated, however, by the lack of information about the range of normal responses in a form suitable for comparative analysis. We present the results of 41 gall bladder emptying studies on 32 normal healthy subjects (14 m...

OBJECTIVE Fatty meal cholescintigraphy (fatty meal CS) is a potential physiologic alternative for cholecystokinin (CCK) CS in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic acalculous cholecystitis (CAC). However, there are limited data in the literature to support this assumption. Our objective was to determine the usefulness of fatty meal CS in the diagnosis and treatment of CAC. METHODS We retrosp...

UNLABELLED This study was undertaken to test whether the octapeptide of cholecystokinin (regular CCK-8) and pharmacy-compounded CCK-8 produce similar results with regard to gallbladder function. METHODS Twenty patients with suspected gallbladder disease were enrolled into quantitative cholescintigraphy. Each patient was infused for 10 min with 3 ng/kg/min of regular CCK-8 and pharmacy-compoun...

Background: Whether ileal absorption of bile acid is up or downregulated in chronic cholestasis is still debated, and most evidence has come from animal studies. Aims: To compare ileal bile acid absorption in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and in healthy control subjects, and to assess the effect of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA). Patients: We studied 14 PBC patients before and duri...