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Oriental cats are subject to familial amyloidosis which primarily involves the liver. Scintigraphic imaging using I‐123 serum amyloid P component (SAP) was performed in 23 cats at varying risks of amyloidosis. Scans showed marked tracer accumulation in the liver in 16 of the cats. Histological confirmation of amyloidosis was obtained in all six cats that underwent biopsy. Abnormal hepatic uptake correlated with rapid clearance of tracer from the blood. This non‐invasive test has potential value as a screening procedure for the detection of amyloidosis.

It has been proposed that acylation at the active site of plasmin is able to prevent its reaction with alpha 2-antiplasmin without affecting the fibrin affinity of the enzyme. To investigate the possibility that 99mTc-labelled acylplasmins are improved thrombus-detecting agents, six acylating agents were synthesised and their reaction with plasmin and the labelling of the products with 99mTc studies. Uptake of 99mTc-acylplasmins in an in vitro thrombus model was complicated by precipitation processes, which may in part account for the rapid blood clearance in rabbits and high liver uptake in mice injected with the compounds. Quantitative measurements using an in vivo rabbit thrombus model demonstrated that guanidinobenzoyl-plasmin exhibited nearly a threefold increase in thrombus uptake compared with non-acylated 99mTc-plasmin. The observed uptake is less than that obtained with 125I-fibrinogen at clinically useful time intervals post-injection but represents a significant advantage over the use of 99mTc-plasmin.