A PILOT-STUDY OF SPLENIC AND WHOLE-BODY RETENTION OF AUTOLOGOUS RADIOLABELED LEUKOCYTES IN THE ASSESSMENT OF SEVERITY IN INFLAMMATORY COLITIS

Objective: To assess the splenic and whole body retention of radiolabe led autologous leukocytes over 24 or 48 h as measures of the severity of colitis. Methods: Eleven patients with colitis underwent standardiz ed clinical, endoscopic, histological, and (111)n-labeled leukocyte sc intigraphy. A logistic discriminant analysis was used to estimate weig hting factors for morphological indices, serum albumen, and stool excr etion of In-111 over 24 h that predicted the clinical assessment of se verity. Subsequently, Spearman rank correlation analysis estimated ass ociations among reductions in spleen and whole body radioactivity and the derived indices of inflammation. Results: The reduction in spleen counts over 24 h correlates significantly with morphological indices ( r(s) = 0.83, p < 0.005) and with serum albumen and stool In-111 (funct ional index, r(s) = 0.77, p < 0.01). Similarly, the reduction in whole body In-111 over 48 h correlates significantly with the combined inde x (r(s) = 0.8) and with the morphological and functional index separat ely (r(s) = 0.72 and 0.79, respectively). Conclusion: This pilot study identified weighting factors for morphological and functional indices in assessing severity of colitis; reduction in whole body and splenic retention of radioactivity was sufficient for evaluation of severity of colitis without the need for stool collections.