Radiocolloid scintigraphy as an aid to the diagnosis of congenital portacaval anomalies in the dog.

Five clinically normal dogs and 5 dogs in which portacaval anomalies were diagnosed angiographically were utilized to evaluate differences in the appearance of the radiocolloid liver scan between the 2 groups. The liver was clearly visualized in all dogs, allowing subjective evaluation of size. In the dogs with portacaval shunts, scintigraphy revealed an obviously small liver as well as pulmonary uptake of radiocolloid. The utility of this technique was then tested in a group of dogs with liver disease and was shown to be of value in differentiating dogs with primary portacaval shunts from other types of liver disease.