Patent ID: 6355624
Filing Date: 2002-03-12
Classification: A61B,G01N

Abstract:
A method of determining the presence or onset of capillary permeability of a subject which comprises:introducing into the blood stream of the subject a dose of a first labelled relatively low molecular weight macromolecular material having a substantial portion of molecules with a molecular weight of less than 100,000 Da, taking at least one blood sample after said introduction; determining the amount and/or concentration of said first labelled macromolecular material at one or more intervals after introduction thereof, and using the determined concentrations to deduce the concentration at time zero, and at: equilibrium respectively of said first labelled macromolecular material thereby to determine a measure of the apparent plasma volume; introducing into the bloodstream of the subject a dose of a second labelled relatively high molecular weight macromolecular material having a substantial proportion of molecules with a molecular weight of greater than 100,000 Da; taking at least one blood sample after said introduction; determining the amount and/or concentration of said second labelled macromolecular material at one or more intervals after introduction thereof and using the determined concentrations to deduce the concentration at time zero and equilibrium respectively of said second labelled macromolecular material, thereby to determine a measure of the true plasma volume; comparing the determined measuring of apparent and true plasma volume to indicate the presence or onset of capillary leakage.