Application of nuclear medicine techniques to the study of ARDS

Radionuclide techniques used for the diagnosis and study of ARDS include the routine clinical procedures of perfusion lung scanning, gallium and white-cell imaging, as well as PET, indicator dilution methods for measuring extravascular lung water, and means of measuring protein accumulation, protein flux, and solute transfer. The techniques that reflect the rate of protein leak from the microvasculature and sensitive measures of rapidly reversible alveolar injury appear most promising. While clinical usefulness remains to be documented, these methods may ultimately assist with the diagnosis of ARDS and with the evaluation of prognosis and therapy.