Acute acalculous cholecystitis.

Sixty-eight patients with acute acalculous cholecystitis were reviewed. The results of history and physical examinations were usually nondiagnostic. IDA cholescintigraphy (93 per cent accuracy rate) was the only reliable diagnostic modality. The results of oral cholecystography, intravenous cholangiography and ultrasonography were considerably less reliable. One-half of the patients had gangrenous cholecystitis. Cholecystectomy was the preferred operation with an over-all mortality of 9 per cent. IDA cholescintigraphy is an important new modality for the diagnosis of acute acalculous cholecystitis which, in the past, has often been difficult to diagnose.