Intrahepatic kinetics of indium-111-labelled platelets.

The intrahepatic kinetics of 111indium-labelled platelets have been studied using dynamic gamma camera scintigraphy immediately following injection. Platelets labelled in saline with 111In-oxine or 111In-acetylacetonate underwent rapidly reversible hepatic sequestration, indicating that they were "activated". Platelets labelled in plasma with 111In-tropolonate, however, did not display this phenomenon. On the assumption that plasma-labelled platelets display a normal initial bio-distribution, mean intrahepatic platelet transit time, as a factor of the transit time of 99m-Tc labelled red cells, was 1.45 +/- SE 0.12 (n = 6), implying the normal presence of a small intrahepatic platelet pool. Unlike the liver, transit through the spleen was not sensitive to the labelling medium; thus the mean intrasplenic transit time of plasma-labelled platelets was 9.3 +/- SE 0.7 min (n = 10), and of saline-labelled platelets 9.5 +/- SE 0.3 min (n = 8).