In-111 oxine autologous labeled platelets in the diagnosis of kidney graft rejection.

The usefulness of In-111 oxine labeled autologous platelets in the diagnosis of renal graft rejection was studied. The method is based on imaging of the graft area at 4, 24, 48, and 72 hours after the injection of the labeled cells. The study was done in 31 renal transplant recipients. The control group included four patients with normal renal function without evidence of rejection. No platelet uptake was observed in any of them. The study group included 22 patients with acute rejection which was confirmed histologically in 13. One case of chronic vascular type rejection of the graft tracer uptake was seen. There was a false-positive result due to a perirenal hematoma. In three patients with a non-immunological sudden impairment of renal function, no activity was detected in the graft area. We also evaluated the changes in platelet trapping throughout the study and they seemed to correlate with the response to the antirejection therapy.