Clinical Assessment of Vascular Thrombosis Using Indium-111 Platelet Scintigraphy

Abstract

The authors reviewed the clinical value of platelet scintigraphy by using autologous platelets labeled with indium-111-oxine to detect thrombotic activity at vascular throm bosis sites. Thirty-nine patients with deep vein thrombosis, 28 with arteriosclerosis oblit erans, and 10 with pulmonary embolism were the subjects of this study. Platelet accu mulation on scintigrams had a tendency to correlate with aggravation of acute thrombotic symptoms in deep vein thrombosis and arteriosclerosis obliterans. In addition, appro priate thrombolytic and anticoagulant therapy resulted in reduced platelet accumulation in conjunction with improvement of acute symptoms. On the other hand, this type of scintigraphy was not so sensitive for assessment of pulmonary embolism. Platelet scintig raphy could facilitate the assessment of thrombotic activity and might be useful for deter mining the optimal indication of thrombolytic and anticoagulant therapy for acute vascular thrombosis.