Cholescintigraphy and biochemical tests in cholecystitis--an evaluation with discriminant analysis.

The biochemical values of 76 patients with suspected cholecystitis were subjected to discriminant analysis. The final diagnoses, i.e. acute cholecystitis, chronic cholecystitis and non-biliary disease, were used as the grouping variable. Cholescintigraphy identified patients with acute cholecystitis. Routine preoperative biochemical tests were found to be of limited value. Only alkaline phosphatase was of help in predicting common-duct stones, especially in patients with acute cholecystitis. The conclusion is that many biochemical tests presently in common use could as well be dispensed with.