Clinical Applications of 111In-Tropolonate Labelled Platelets

Abstract

This article will discuss the clinical relevance of thrombocyte labelling. It should become clear to clinicans with experience in the field of thrombocytopenia which role this Nuclear Medicine technique can play in diagnosing and managing your patients. The main purpose of the investigation was to use indium labelling to distinguish between thrombocytopenia caused by a failure of platelet production and thrombocytopenia caused by platelet destruction. This obviously is a distinction that cannot always be made on clinical grounds, The article consists of three parts:

• A review of the clinical diagnosis of thrombocytopenia will be briefly reviewed.

• A few highlights of the separation and labelling techniques will be explained. Some comments on possible quality control procedures will be made. For practical reasons the discussion will be limited to the key points.

• The measurement of Mean Platelet Life (MPL), Platelet Production Rate (PPR), and Initial Recovery (IR) will be described and how these values in patients with trombocytopenia compare with the values in normal individuals.

• The clinical relevance of these measurements will be discussed, as well as measurements of platelet uptake by the liver and spleen.