Whole body distribution of 99mTc labelled autologous human granulocytes and radiation dose to cells and organs.

The whole body distribution of radioactivity as a function of time after infusion of 99mTc labelled autologous granulocytes was measured in three volunteers by means of a scanning bed, a scintillation camera and a minicomputer. Labelling was performed with a bisalt method without pretinning. There was a considerable initial lung sequestration (22%-31%) of the injected activity, which disappeared with an effective half life of 42 min. One h after infusion the activity was found mainly in the liver (41%), spleen (8%), lungs (9%) and kidneys (5%). Urine excretion amounted to 30% during the first 32 h after infusion. An injected activity of 100 MBq caused a radiation dose of 4.4 m Gy to the liver, 6.3 m Gy to the spleen, 3.7 m Gy to the kidneys, and 0.2 m Gy and 0.1 m Gy to the ovaries and testes respectively. The labelling procedure and the subsequent decay within the granulocytes gave them an absorbed radiation dose of 1.8 Gy after 25 min (i.e., at completion of the infusion) and 8.4 Gy after 4 h (i.e., the normal imaging time). In vitro tests revealed no signs of radiation damage to the cells.