Positron emission tomography measurements of pulmonary vascular permeability with Ga-68 transferrin or C-11 methylalbumin.
OBJECTIVE
To compare estimates of pulmonary endothelial barrier integrity obtained using two different tracer proteins.


METHODS
Measure the pulmonary transcapillary escape rate with gallium (Ga)-68 labeled transferrin (PTCER(tf)) and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and compare the results to similar measurements obtained with C-11 labeled methylalbumin (PTCER(alb)).


METHODS
Laboratory investigation.


METHODS
Mongrel dogs.


METHODS
No intervention in one group of dogs (n = 3); oleic-acid induced lung injury in another set (n = 4).


RESULTS
Although PTCER(tf) was consistently higher than PTCER(alb) (mean difference: 50 x 10(-4)/min), the overall correlation between the two methods, after normalizing for differences in regression slope and intercept among the individual dogs, was excellent (r2 = .67).


CONCLUSIONS
The data support the continued use of PET and Ga-68 transferrin as an appropriate means of evaluating and quantifying lung injury.
Schuster
D P
DP
Department of Internal Medicine, the Institute for Biomedical Computing, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Markham
J
J
Welch
M J
MJ
D000418:Albumins; D000818:Animals; D002199:Capillary Permeability; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D004285:Dogs; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D008168:Lung / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D014168:Transferrin
D000418:Albumins; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014168:Transferrin