Measurement of blood flow from first-pass radionuclide angiography: influence of bolus volume.

Fractionation of cardiac output on first-pass radionuclide angiography is a recently described technique for measuring blood flow. In order to determine the influence of bolus volume, splenic blood flow (SBF) and renal blood flow (RBF) were measured from widely differing bolus volumes given in sequence over a period of a few minutes in patients undergoing routine bone scintigraphy with technetium 99m methylene diphosphonate. A bolus volume of 0.5 ml, followed by 20 ml of rapidly delivered saline "chaser", was regarded as a "gold standard" bolus. A 50 ml bolus, but not a 20 ml bolus, resulted in a significant underestimation of both SBF and RBF. Thus, using a left ventricular region of interest to generate an arterial first-pass time-activity curve, RBF from a 50 ml bolus was 58% (SEM 4%) that given by a 0.5 ml bolus, while RBF for a 20 ml bolus was 98% (8%). Corresponding values for SBF were 52% (10%) and 102% (12%). A quality control adjustment did not correct the underestimation given by the 50 ml bolus. Bolus volumes greater than 20 ml give unreliable estimates of organ blood flow by this technique.