124 Viral Hepatitis

Clinical Presentation

A 55-year-old man with a history of intravenous drug abuse presents with malaise and jaundice (Fig. 124.1).

Fig. 124.1

Fig. 124.2

Technique

• The patient should take nothing by mouth between less than 24 hours and more than 4 hours before the test.

• Immediately following the injection of 1.5 mCi of ^99mTc-DISIDA, the patient is placed in a supine position beneath the gamma camera.

• Continuous images acquired in a 64 × 64 matrix are divided into 1-minute frames.

• Images are obtained in the left anterior oblique projection with a slant-hole collimator to better separate the small bowel from the liver. Straight anterior views may be obtained with a high- resolution, parallel-hole collimator if a slant-hole collimator is not available.

• Delayed static images may be acquired as necessary.