Author/Editor		Sedonja, Irena; Budihna, Nataša V
Title		The benefit of SPECT when added to planar scintigraphy in patients with bone metastases in the spine
Type		članek
Source		Clin Nucl Med
Vol. and No.		Letnik 24, št. 6
Publication year		1999
Volume		str. 407-13
Language		eng
Abstract		Purpose: This study compared the efficiency of SPECT with planar bone scans in differentiating malignant from benign lesions and in detecting metastases to the spine. Methods: Planar scintigraphy and SPECT were performed in 37 patients with low back pain without known malignancy and in 38 patients with confirmed malignancy. The type, location, and intensity of tracer accumulation were compared on the planar and SPECT scans. The malignant or benign nature of lesions was proved by radiologic methods, histologic findings, 6 month follow-up, or all of these. Results: More metastases were detected by SPECT(SPECT, 58 of 64; planar, 42 of 64; P < 0.01). In three of seven patients with known malignancy who had a normal result of planar scan, only SPECT detected metastases. Fiftynine metastases were radiologically mainly osteolytic, one was osteoblastic and four were mixed. Most lesions showed increased radioactivity (40 of 42 on planar scans vs. 45 of 58 on SPECT) and 2 of 42 (5%) vs.12 of 58 (21%) were cold with marginally increased uptake. One of 58 metastases was a cold lesion seen on SPECT only. Lesions were more often malignant than benign when seen on SPECT in a pedicle (n = 5; malignant = 3, benign = 2), in the body and pedicle (n = 22; malignant = 14, benign = 8), within the vertebral body (n = 5; malignant = 4, benign = 1) and in the whole vertebra (n = 6; malignant= 4, benign = 2). The lesion to background ratio was higher on SPECT than on planar scans (SPECT, 2.26; planar scans,1.86; P < 0.05 in malignant lesions). Conclusions: SPECT of the spine improved the diagnostic accuracy of bone scans when added to a planar scan in patients with known malignancy and clinical suspicion of spinal metastases when the planar scan was borderline abnormal. It helps in differentiating between benign and malignant lesions of the spine.
Descriptors		RADIONUCLIDE IMAGING TOMOGRAPHY, EMISSION-COMPUTED, SINGLE-PHOTON NEOPLASM METASTASIS SPINAL NEOPLASMS OSTEOBLASTS DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING