Evaluation of Intra-articular Colloidal Gold Au 198 in the Treatment of Persistent Knee Effusions

Abstract

The introduction of radioactive Au into the knee joint allows the synovial membrane to be irradiated by particles of low penetration. The 1 year follow-up of 30 therapeutic injections showed a good result in 16, some effect in 7, and none in 7. In the 14 cases in which bilateral knee effusions were present, the treated knee tended to do better than the control, but on 4 occasions the second knee had settled by 1 year. It is suggested that failure of this form of therapy may be due to the inability of the Au 198 to penetrate far enough into very thickened synovial membrane. Y90, with its considerably greater penetration (over 3 mm.) into the tissue, may be preferable and warrants further investigation.