Imaging platelet deposition with 111In-labeled platelets in coronary artery bypass grafts in dogs.

At 8 and 32 hours after saphenous vein aortocoronary artery bypass graft surgery in four dogs, images of the grafts were obtained with a gamma camera after intravenous injection, 2 hours postoperatively, of autologous platelets labeled with indium-111. The location of platelet deposition could be accurately estimated from the scintiphotos. In vitro radioactivity counting of the segments of the isolated grafts showed 4 to 15 times greater activity in the grafts than in blood and 25 to 100 times greater activity than in normal myocardium. This was sufficient for delineating accurately the area of platelet deposition. This noninvasive technique may be a promising tool for a better understanding of the role played by platelets in the process of occlusion of saphenous vein bypass grafts in man.