99mTechnetium-Fibrinogen Lung Scanning in Canine Lung Contusion

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Abstract
To detect experimentally-induced acute lung contusion in anesthetized dogs, serial radionuclide images of the lung were recorded following i.v. infusion of 99mTc-labeled human fibrinogen (Tc-HF). The accumulation of Tc-HF in canine lungs was serially quantitated for up to 20 h after lung contusion. A contusion (#1) was produced in 1 lung, Tc-HF was injected i.v. after 15 min, and 75 min later a contralateral lung contusion (#2) was produced in a series of 14 dogs. At autopsy the excised lungs were scanned, sectioned and counted for radioactivity. Radiolabeled fibrinogen accumulated within 2-4 min of contusion #2 and remained stable over the next 20 h in 14 dogs; contusion #1 was barely visible in 4 dogs. Lung Tc-HF activity in the central region of contusion #2 remained 6-fold higher than in normal lung tissue. Following lung contusion, fibrinogen deposition evidently occurs rapidly and remains stable over a 20-h interval of observation.