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A New Method for Estimating Splenic Erythrocyte and Plasma Volume Combined with Quantitation of Splenic Iron Incorporation
Author(s) -
Christensen B. Egelund
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1600-0609
pISSN - 0036-553X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0609.1971.tb00871.x
Subject(s) - spleen , volume (thermodynamics) , erythropoiesis , plasma volume , blood volume , chemistry , albumin , iron isotopes , pathology , nuclear medicine , medicine , biochemistry , anemia , isotope , physics , quantum mechanics
A method for in vivo determination of the splenic erythrocyte and plasma volume has been developed. Ultrasonic scanning of the splenic region permits not only determination of the shape and topography of the spleen, but also calculation of its volume with great accuracy, using simultaneous computer analysis. Splenic models of a volume as determined by ultrasonic scanning were made of water‐filled balloons and shaped as accurate copies of the scanned spleens. After infusion of known quantities of 51 Cr‐labelled erythrocytes and 125 I‐labelled albumin, intravenously and into a model of the patient's spleen, it may be determined – by surface measurements over the spleen in situ and over the balloon model – how large a part of the total erythrocyte and plasma volume is localized in the spleen. By the use of 59 Fe, the method also allows quantitative determination of the iron incorporation in a spleen with extramedullary erythropoiesis. The percentage which the erythrocyte pool in the spleen constitutes of the total erythrocyte volume increases with increasing spleen weight, apparently independently of the underlying haematological disease.