Computed tomography of the liver and spleen with intravenous lipoid contrast material: review of 60 examinations.

In 60 computed tomographic examinations of the liver and spleen in 55 patients, a new intravenous lipoid contrast material, Ethiodized Oil Emulsion 13, was used. This organ-specific contrast material, retained by the reticuloendothelial cells of the liver and spleen, caused marked increase in the attenuation of the liver and spleen, but did not appreciably change the attenuation of the tumor involving these organs, thereby significantly increasing the density differential between normal and abnormal tissue. Toxicity was considered to be well within tolerable limits with the most frequently noted untoward side effects of chills, fever, headaches, and foul metallic taste. Ethiodized Oil Emulsion 13 holds the promise to become a valuable clinical tool by which hepatic and splenic imaging may be significantly improved and lesions less than 1 cm in diameter demonstrated in the liver and spleen.