Hepato-biliary excretion of water-soluble iodinated contrast medium shortly after abdominal angiography]

Thirty-nine patients underwent CT examination 15 to 30 min after abdominal angiography with ioxaglate. Gallbladder opacification was observed in 15 patients in the absence of clinical evidence of renal impairment. Among them, 14 patients revealed liver cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis, and one patient showed severe fatty liver on CT. The amount of contrast medium used varied from 70 ml to 310 ml (mean 180 ml). There was no significant relationship between visualization of the gallbladder and the total dose of ioxaglate or presence of liver dysfunction, which indicated that gallbladder opacification was not a rare phenomenon on CT shortly after abdominal angiography with a normal dose of ioxaglate. Gallbladder opacification on CT examination shortly after abdominal angiography shows that the hepatobiliary tract is important in the excretion of ioxaglate.