Thirty academic radiology departments active in biliary imaging were surveyed to document how frequently intravenous cholangiography (IVC) was being performed. Over a 10-year period the number of examinations has decreased precipitously from approximately 1728 in 1976 to 8 in 1986. This coincides with the increased availability of alternative procedures. The availability of new contrast agents with improved diagnostic yield and decreased toxicity suggests that its use may have been prematurely abandoned.