Effect of hemodialysis on gallium-67-citrate scanning.

ABSTRACT

Gallium-67-citrate scanning is often used in the diagnosis of inflammatory processes in hemodialysis patients. The question arises whether the dialysis process will adversely affect the quality of the gallium scan. To answer this question, nine dialysis patients were studied, eight on hollow-fiber dialysis units and one on ultrafiltration, in an attempt to quantitate the loss of gallium through dialysis. Blood sampling during dialysis failed to demonstrate changes in gallium concentration attributable to removal by dialysis. Sampling of dialysate demonstrated levels of activity significantly greater than background; however, quantitation was not reliable. Ultrafiltration with total collection of extracted fluids yielded 0.5% of injected dose removed from the blood. Whole-body scans at 24 hours postinjection showed good quality and total counts unaltered by dialysis. The time of injection prior to dialysis also showed no effect on the quality of the final image.