The role of biliary scintigraphy and ultrasonography in the diagnosis of cholecystitis.

The scintigraphic and sonographic findings in 70 patients with pathologically confirmed gallbladder disease are described. Fifty-two patients were found to have had acute cholecystitis. All 52 patients (100%) had non-visualized of the gallbladder on scintigraphy. Of these patients, 71% had abnormal ultrasound examinations and 29% had normal ultrasound examination. Eighteen patients were proven to have chronic cholecystitis. All 18 (100%) had an abnormal ultrasound examination. Four patients (22%) had non-visualization of the gallbladder on scintigraphy producing a false-positive incidence of approximately 6% for acute cholecystitis. The predictive value of scintigraphy in the patient with suspected acute cholecystitis was 94%. A combination of ultrasound and scintigraphy yielded a sensitivity of 100% in the detection of gallbladder disease in the 70 patients.