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Iron Hydroxide Particle Retention in Primate Lungs

Veterans Administration Hospital and University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Correspondence: ¹ For reprints contact: Richard S. Watts, Nuclear Medicine Service, Veterans Administration Hospital, 2100 Ridgecrest Dr., S.E., Albuquerque, N.Mex. 87108.

ABSTRACT

The retention and possible toxicity of iron hydroxide particles used for lung scanning were investigated by incorporating ⁵⁹Fe and injecting the left pulmonary arteries of three monkeys retaining the right lungs for control. Washout rates from external counts were obtained using a special collimator device and the animals were sacrificed at 4–7 months. The lungs were assayed for residual radioiron and examined microscopically for iron staining and tissue damage.

A three-exponential washout curve with approximate T_1/2'8 of 8 hr, 6 days, and 100 days was obtained. These compartments contained 42–54%, 21–39%, and 15–38%, respectively, of the injected dose. Projection of the slow rate suggests 1–4% would remain in the lung after a year. Microscopic examination showed particles up to 8 microns confined to macrophages, with no evidence of tissue damage. It is unlikely that iron hydroxide lung scans pose any risk of long-term toxicity.