The use of caesium iodide mini scintillation counters for dual isotope pulmonary capillary permeability studies

A commercially available system of caesium iodide crystal mini-detectors (Oakfield Instruments, Oxon, UK) was modified so that it was suitable for dual isotopic measurement of the plasma protein accumulation index (PPA)- a measure of pulmonary endothelial permeability. Using this modified system the mean PPA x 10(-3) min-1 +/- (S.E.M.) recorded in 11 normal subjects (22 lungs) was 0.18 (0.08) and in 6 patients (9 lungs) with the adult respiratory distress syndrome was 2.88 (0.63) (P less than 0.02). These values for PPA concur with those found by other groups using larger sodium iodide detectors. We conclude that with simple modification caesium iodide mini-detectors may be used successfully for the measurement of PPA in the intensive care setting.