In vivo measurement of regional cerebral haematocrit using positron emission tomography.

A method is described for measuring the regional cerebral-to-large vessel haematocrit ratio using inhalation of carbon-11-labelled carbon monoxide and the intravenous injection of carbon-11-labelled methyl-albumin in combination with positron emission tomography. The mean value in a series of nine subjects was 0.69. This is approximately 20% lower than the value of 0.85 previously reported. It is concluded that previous measurements of regional cerebral blood volume using a haematocrit ratio of 0.85 will have underestimated the value of regional cerebral blood volume by 20%.