Rapid nuclear medicine blood volume analysis for emergency assessment

Abstract

Assessment of fluid status can play a critical role in the diagnosis and management of emergent conditions such as trauma, shock, decompensated heart failure, syncope, and hypertension. Unfortunately, common methods are all qualitative and/or indirect, and often inaccurate. With the recent introduction of a modernized method of nuclear medicine blood volume analysis (NM-BVA), offering results in 90 min or less as well as improved precision and ease of performance, this decade-old technique is for the first time a viable tool in the emergent setting. In this review, we discuss the history of NM-BVA, the modern method, and our institution’s experience implementing this method.

Keywords

• blood volume
• fluid status
• indicator dilution
• nuclear medicine
• rapid