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Location of the Site of Bacterial Bile-Salt Deconjugation by Combining Abdominal Scintigraphy with Expired C-14

University of Alabama, Birmingham
Veterans Administration Hospital, Birmingham, Alabama

Correspondence: For reprints contact: Basil I. Hirschowitz, Div. of Gastroenterology, University of Alabama, University Station, Birmingham, AL 53294.

ABSTRACT

A combined ¹⁴CO₂ bile-salt breath and scintigraphic test has proved useful in determining the site of bile-salt deconjugation by bacteria. Data suggest that the procedure can be shortened to less than 8 hr with Tc-99m sulfur colloid abdominal scintigrams added to locate the labeled meal. Moreover the cumulative ¹⁴CO₂ excretion, which is an index of the rate of bile-salt deconjugation, gives clearer separation than peak specific activity between normals and either high or low deviations from normal. The test should be helpful in a number of difficult diagnostic problems involving chronic diarrhea, and offers as well both a guide to appropriate therapy and a monitor for relapse in infected blind-loop syndromes.

FOOTNOTES

^* Trainee, U.S. Public Health Service Gastroenterology Training Grant 2A-5286.