A demonstration of neutrophil accumulation in the pulmonary vasculature during haemodialysis.

111Indium oxine labelled autologous neutrophils were used to investigate neutropenia occurring during haemodialysis. Continuous surface counts demonstrated accumulation of labelled neutrophils in the lung, reaching a peak at 15 minutes after commencing dialysis, coincident with a fall in arterial blood and dialyser radioactivity, and a fall in arterial blood neutrophil count. Lung radioactivity returned to baseline after one hour implying reflux of labelled neutrophils into the circulation, whilst dialyser activity rose progressively and remained high even after washback of blood from the dialyser reflecting accumulation of neutrophils on the membrane.