[Radioisotope studies in the practice of an intensive therapy department]

The article discusses the 10-year experience in the use of radioisotop diagnosis in the practice of an intensive therapy department. The results of the examination of over 300 patients who had been operated on under conditions of extracorporeal circulation are analyzed. With the use of radioactive indicators some new aspects of the pathophysiology of acute circulatory disorders were revealed, among others those related to the problem of blood deposition, the correlation between the functioning of the right and left parts of the heart; the diagnostic possibilities in appraising the causes of the disorders of circulation, functioning of the parenchymatous organs, and tissue blood flow were widened; the therapeutic tactics in the development of hypovolemia, acute cardiac failure, and disturbances in tissue perfusion could be elaborated.