Perfluoroctylbromide: a reticuloendothelial-specific and tumor-imaging agent for computed tomography.

Perfluoroctylbromide (PFOB) was evaluated as a liver/spleen-specific and tumor imaging agent in 30 rabbits implanted with VX2 tumors. Computed tomographic (CT) scanning of all rabbits was performed after sacrifice. Half of the animals were given 5 ml/kg of PFOB emulsion intravenously 48 hours prior to sacrifice. Twenty rabbits were used for anatomic correlation and ten for histologic analysis. PFOB concentration was measured in normal liver and spleen in eight rabbits at two days, in six rabbits at seven days, and in six rabbits at 14 days after PFOB administration (5 ml/kg, intravenously). PFOB increased the CT numbers of the liver by 49 HU and the spleen by 250 HU. More important for diagnostic purposes, PFOB produced dense enhancement of the rim of the tumor. The density of the rim of the tumor was increased by 102 HU as a result of accumulation of PFOB in macrophages at the periphery of the tumor. The half-life of PFOB in the liver and the spleen was approximately five days.