During peritoneal dialysis, resistant foci of infection along the intra-abdominal course of the two-cuff peritoneal dialysis catheter (so-called "tunnel infections") frequently lead to relapsing or refractory peritonitis (1, 2). These infections can be difficult to identify before surgical catheter removal. Indium-111-labeled leukocyte scanning was done in an attempt to identify such tunnel infections by a noninvasive method.
Patients had images taken of anterior, posterior, and lateral views, using autologous leukocytes labeled with 500 µCi of indium-111-oxine (MediPhysics Radiopharmaceutical, Emeryville, California) (3). Scans were done 24 hours after blood was drawn, and leukocytes were separated, labeled, and reinjected; during the interval