Application of different counting systems in measuring localised retention in the entero-hepatic circulation

The use of labelled bile salt retention is likely to be a major new technique in assessing the function of the terminal ileum. Papers to date have described two techniques to measure both the 100% and the seven-day retention values. These use whole body counters or uncollimated gamma cameras. We have compared the use of simple probe systems with an uncollimated gamma camera for the retention measurements. There was no significant difference in the results obtained with any of these systems. It is concluded that simple probe measurements can provide a precise and highly reproducible assessment of bile salt retention which greatly increases the availability of this test.