[The comprehensive assessment of the degree of severity of their condition in patients with mechanical jaundice].

The authors examined 42 patients with obstructive jaundice of various severity. Comparison of the findings of radiohepatography with intoxication values according to the medium-weight molecule test and the biochemical parameters revealed statistically significant differences of some quantitative indices depending of the severity of jaundice. The results of the study made it possible to recommend the use of the values of blood clearance, time of maximum accumulation of a radiopharmacological agent in the liver, hepatic and blood retention index, and the medium-weight molecule test for objective quantitative appraisal of the severity of obstructive jaundice. Study of the time course of changes of the above parameters showed that normalization of hepatic function in resolving jaundice begins only from the second week after decompression of the biliary tract, which must be borne in mind in choosing the optimal time for the operation.