Clinical evaluation of 99mTc-pyridoxylideneglutamate for hepatobiliary scanning.

Clinical evaluation of hepatobiliary scanning using 99mTc-PG was done in twenty normal volunteers and eighty-three patients with liver and biliary tract disease. Satisfactory images of the biliary tract were obtained using small dosages of this agent. In normal humans, the agent reached the liver in 5 minutes, and the common bile duct, gallbladder, and duodenum in 10 to 20 minutes. The gallbladder was not visualized when the cystic duct was obstructed in patients with acute and chronic cholecystitis. In patients with partial common bile duct obstruction, a distended duct was visualized and there was delay in transit of radioactivity into the duodenum. With complete common bile duct obstruction, no radioactivity was seen in the biliary or gastrointestinal tracts up to 24 hours after injection. Hepatocellular disease was characterized by delayed liver clearance and delayed visualization of the biliary and gastrointestinal tracts. There were no toxic or other untoward effects in any patients.