Detection of thrombi by 111In-oxine platelet scintigraphy

For 52 patients with cardiac disease and 11 patients with vascular disease, In-111-oxine platelet scintigraphy was performed to assess its clinical usefulness for detecting thrombi. Using Hayashida's method, platelets were separated in 43 ml peripheral blood, washed and labeled with 1 mCi In-111-oxine. In addition to planar images in the anterior, 45 deg left anterior oblique and left lateral views, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was performed in some cases by rotating a dual gamma camera 24 and 72 hours after labeled platelet injection. The functions of platelet and coagulability were examined 36 hours after the injection of labeled platelets. Medical therapy was not changed during this study. Intracardiac thrombi were documented in 16 of 52 cases with cardiac disease and intravascular thrombi in 10 cases with vascular disease by angiography, CT and two-dimensional echocardiography. Positive images were obtained in 10 cases with cardiac disease and in eight cases with vascular disease by scintigraphy. Therefore, sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy were 63 %, 100 % and 88 % in intracardiac thrombi; 80 %, 100 % and 82 % in intravascular thrombi; and totally 69 %, 100 % and 87 %, respectively. In the detection of intracardiac thrombi by scintigraphy, the sensitivity seemed to be lower and the specificity higher than those by other graphic studies. In 52 cases with cardiac disease, five out of six cases with false negative images had received antiplatelet and/or anticoagulant drugs, and in these cases, platelet and coagulation functions tended to be decreased compared with those of true positive cases or true negative cases. We conclude that positive images in scintigraphy indicate the existence of growing thrombi, and that In-111-oxine platelet scintigraphy has clinical usefulness, not only for detecting thrombi, but for estimating platelet activity and effect of medical therapy. (author)