Comparison between the values of the hepatic uptake rate obtained by 2 methods, using hepatobiliary scintigraphy in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis

Abstract

99mTc-mebrofenin hepatobiliary scintigraphy has been introduced for the noninvasive assessment of liver function in the clinical setting and in experimental research. Methods: During a period of 2 y, 15 patients with fatty livers diagnosed as having nonalcoholic steatohepatitis underwent hepatobiliary scintigraphy using the radiopharmaceutical agent 99mTc-labeled mebrofenin. After intravenous administration of 85 MBq of 99mTc-mebrofenin, a dynamic image was acquired with the liver and heart in the field of view. In this study, a comparison between the values of hepatic uptake rate obtained by applying 2 methods in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis-multiple-time graphical analysis (Gjedde-Patlak plot) and the differentiation between different regions of interest using hepatobiliary scintigraphy- was made. Results: The values of the uptake rate reveal that uptake obtained by applying the second method are significantly higher than that obtained by applying the first one (P 5 0.001). A strong positive association (n 5 15; r 5 0.92; R2 5 0.84) was found between these measurements. From a Bland-Altman statistical test that was performed on the results we also found that 87% of the cases (13/15) were within 1.96 SD. Conclusion: The Gjedde-Patlak analysis method can be considered as an alternative technique to find and calculate the hepatic uptake rate. © 2010 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine, Inc.