99mTc-Human Albumin Solution is a radiopharmaceutical used in nuclear medicine for various diagnostic purposes, particularly in cardiology for myocardial scintigraphy and blood pool imaging. It consists of Technetium-99m (99mTc) bound to human albumin, a protein found in blood plasma.
The use of 99mTc-Human Albumin Solution allows for non-invasive imaging of the heart and blood pools, providing valuable information about the structure and function of the cardiovascular system. In myocardial scintigraphy, this radiopharmaceutical is injected into the patient’s bloodstream and then detected using a gamma camera to create images of the heart muscle. This imaging technique is useful for diagnosing conditions such as coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, and assessing myocardial viability.
In blood pool imaging, 99mTc-Human Albumin Solution is used to visualize the circulation of blood within the heart chambers and major blood vessels. This can help in assessing cardiac function, detecting abnormalities in blood flow, and evaluating the presence of any structural defects.
Overall, 99mTc-Human Albumin Solution is a valuable tool in cardiology for its ability to provide detailed and accurate information about the cardiovascular system, aiding in the diagnosis and management of various cardiac conditions.
Description
99mTc-labeled Human Serum Albumin (HSA) in solution is a generic useful tool in cardiology for myocardial scintigraphy and blood pools observation.
Clinical applications
Solutions of 99mTc-labeled HSA are used for the examination of the central circulation system and for radioisotope angiography. The HSA solution allows the determination of ejection fraction and first bolus passage, the examination of myocardial wall motion, the detection of shunts and aneurysms and the demonstration of pericardial effusion. It can be used also for the localization of placenta, visualization of venous circulation and the detection of deep vein thrombosis.
Average doses per patient are dependent upon the indication: static blood pool imaging (3–5 mCi), angiography (10–20 mCi), circulation and blood flow studies (1–5 mCi) ventriculography (5–25 mCi).
Availability
Several companies produce this tracer: IBA Molecular (Curium) (Vasculocis), IDB/AAA (Albumon), Medi-Radiopharma (Albumon)
GE Healthcare has discontinued its tracer 99mTc-HSA.
Competition
In general, there is a lot of competition among manufacturers of human albumin derivatives. Almost all manufacturers of cold kits propose at least one form of an albumin derivative, despite the difficulty in accessing to a reliable source of human blood derivative and the reproducibility of the kit manufacturing process.
Myocardial imaging is now preferably performed with synthetic drugs of non-human origin such as Sestamibi and Tetrofosmin.
Comments
The use of products of human origin such as HSA which have a different source quality from one batch to another has always raised some suspicion about the reproducibility of the labeling. Several times, the source of the HSA was the reason for supply shortage. Also, albumin derivatives are very old products which tend to be substituted by synthetic vectors.