Abstract
A modified isotope method, requiring lower levels of radioactivity, for localization of the placenta is presented and its application in 66 patients described. A dose of 3.0 mu C of radioiodinated human serum albumin was injected into the antecubital vein, and after 10 min a collimated scintillation detector connected to a count rate meter was used to count radioactivity in a reference position over the precordium and in 21 positions around the uterus. Administration of iodine as Lugol's solution, prior to and after the radioisotope study, reduces the thyroid exposure markedly so that the total-body irradiation to both mother and fetus is significantly less than that from one or two diagnostic x-ray exposures of the abdomen. Although earlier methods employ 10.0 mu C of I/sup 131/ and more recent reports maintain that 5.0 mu C is a min dose, satisfactory results were obtained with 3.0 VC of I/sup 131/-labeled albumin. Various abdominal scanning patterns are illustrated for anomalous placental locations and obstetric problems. Fetal death in some instances was associated with elevated isotope counts which were consistent with placental localization. In cases of intrauterine death, there were differences in the maternal placental circulation which varied with the duration of themore » retention of the dead fetus. In several cases there was an early period of marked reduction of maternal placental blood flow followed by a return of this circulation to its previous level or even to a higher level. Thus, there is a possibility that after fetal death there is an early phase of shutdown of the major maternal placental circulation and that during this phase, isotope studies fail to localize the placenta. (BBB)« less
Published Version
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