RED CELL VOLUME MEASUREMENT

INDICATIONS:

Diagnosis of polycythemia vera.

PATIENT PREPARATIONS:

The patient should not have had a transfusion or phlebotomy in the last 4 weeks.

RADIOPHARMACEUTICAL:

Cr-51-red blood cells, 10 - 30 µCi intravenous injection.

SCANNING TIME:

Patient time: 45 minutes.

Total study time: 1 hour 15 minutes.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS/RATIONALE:

Red blood cell volume and plasma volume can be determined simultaneously.

Total blood volume (TBV) and plasma volume (PV) can be calculated from the measured red cell volume (RCV) although this is significantly less accurate than measuring both volumes independently.