G. T. Krishnamurthy and S. Krishnamurthy: Nuclear hepatology: a textbook of hepatobiliary diseases (2nd edition)

Excerpt

It is difficult to believe for a young physician working today in diagnostic imaging that there was a time, not so long ago, when traditional nuclear medicine was almost alone and/or however a primary tool in the diagnosis of liver diseases. In those times ultrasound (US), CT, MRI and positron emission tomography (PET) were not widely used in clinical practice and competition was with the ineffective traditional radiology, the invasive imaging, the functional radiology using contrast media, mainly based on cholangiography and cholecystography. In particular, hepatosplenic scintigraphy with radiocolloids was a first-line resource in oncology and in evaluating diffuse hepatic diseases; conversely, the role of hepatobiliary scintigraphy was less important both because of the clinical value of radiological antagonists and of the ancientness of instruments, mainly based on the rectilinear scanner (not feasible for a dynamic evaluation) and on radioiodinated colourants radiolabelled with ¹³¹I. …