Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Stimulating the gallbladder is a key part of scintigraphic exams for diagnosing chronic acalculous cholecystitis (CAC). It's usually accomplished by giving the patient a fatty meal, or through administration of sincalide, a synthetic cholecystokinin.
But the temporary disruption of sincalide shipments several years ago prompted many nuclear medicine facilities to look for alternatives. One university hospital in Iowa found a solution in its own backyard through the development of a corn-based gallbladder stimulant, according to an article by staff writer Shalmali Pal in our Molecular Imaging Digital Community.
The group created its own formulation of corn oil emulsion and tested it on a group of patients referred for recurrent postprandial abdominal or right upper quadrant pain. They found that the corn oil emulsion had some advantages over sincalide, but some unexpected quirks as well.
Find out more about the idiosyncrasies of corn oil emulsion in our Molecular Imaging Digital Community, at molecular.auntminnie.com.
