Temporal behavior of peripheral organ distribution volume in mammillary systems. II. Application to background correction in separate glomerular filtration rate estimation in man.

An original approach to background subtraction is presented for 99mTc-DTPA separate glomerular filtration rate (SGFR) estimation in man. The method is based on the properties of the peripheral organ distribution volume (PODV) in mammillary systems. These PODV properties allow easy separation of the components of the renogram, i.e., interstitial fluid, plasma and renal activities. The proposed algorithm takes advantage of the linear time dependence of the kidney distribution volume, during the renal uptake phase, to correct for the plasma residual activity, which always remains after classical background correction. Theoretically, the ratio between kidney uptake and SGFR should be identical for both left and right kidneys, even for very asymmetrical kidney functions. This is best verified when the proposed plasma residual activity correction is applied.