Pretreatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) as a novel pharmacological intervention in hepatobiliary scintigraphy

Abstract

The purpose of this volunteer study was to investigate whether pretreatment with UDCA before the administration of (99m)Tc DISIDA affects the biliary excretion of the DISIDA, and whether it can shorten the total imaging time. Ten young, healthy volunteers (eight males, two females, mean age: 26.3 +/- 2.1 years) participated in the study. Hepatobiliary scintigraphies were performed twice per volunteer within three days, for the control and the UDCA-pretreated studies. In the control study, the gallbladder (GB) was observed first in four cases and the intestine was observed first in another four cases; in contrast, in the UDCA challenge study, the GB was observed first in eight cases. The quantitative results for the factors related to the GB differed significantly between the control and challenge studies. When the subjects were pretreated with UDCA, the time duration until visualization of the GB was shortened, and the maximum activity of the GB became more intense. In conclusion, UDCA pretreatment before hepatobiliary scintigraphy can shorten the total imaging time for evaluating functional obstructions of the cystic duct and increase the specificity of the process.

Fig. 1

Hepatobiliary scintigraphies of a volunteer untreated with UDCA (A) and pretreated with UDCA (B). After pretreatment with UDCA, the GB (arrow) is visualized first, then the intestine.

Fig. 2

Comparison of the time to visualization of the GB. The observation times of the GB converged without significant individual differences in eight cases of the UDCA pretreated hepatobiliary scintigraphies.

Fig. 3

Hepatobiliary scintigraphies from a volunteer with untreated UDCA (A) and pretreated UDCA (B). After pretreatment with UDCA, the maximum activity of the GB is more intense than that in the control study.