Bone scintigraphy in chronic knee pain: comparison with magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

Conclusions-Good agreement was found between increased bone uptake and MR detected subchondral lesion. The agreement between increased bone uptake and osteophytes or cartilage defects was in general poor as well as the agreement between the grade of bone uptake and the grade of the MR findings. (Ann Rheum Dis 1999;58:20-26) Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial process 1 aVecting cartilage and subchondral bone.

Bone scintigraphy for osteonecrosis of the knee in patients with non-traumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head: comparison with magnetic resonance imaging

“…The “hot patella pattern”24 was seen in the entire patellar region of five knees (fig 4), though normal conditions were indicated on MRI (false positive). Boegard et al also reported that in the patella, six of seven observations of increased bone uptake showing the hot patella pattern did not correspond to subchondral lesions in osteoarthritis 25. This pattern in the patella may be indicative of normal conditions.…”

“…The patterns of increased bone uptake looked partially like the patterns in osteoarthritis of the knee 2425 McCrae et al reported that late phase isotope retention occurred on the joint line (the tramline pattern), in the subchondral bone (extended pattern), throughout the joint (generalised), or was isolated to the patella (hot patella) in osteoarthritis of the knee 24. Boegard et al modified these four patterns of localised radionuclide uptake and identified three distinct patterns: point-like, tramline, and extended 25.…”

“…25 McCrae et al reported that late phase isotope retention occurred on the joint line (the tramline pattern), in the subchondral bone (extended pattern), throughout the joint (generalised), or was isolated to the patella (hot patella) in osteoarthritis of the knee 24. Boegard et al modified these four patterns of localised radionuclide uptake and identified three distinct patterns: point-like, tramline, and extended 25. In our study, localised focal increased bone uptake pattern was point-like or extended in all ONK patterns (fig 3), though no osteoarthritic changes were seen on plain radiographs.…”

“…Nevertheless, patients with preradiographical osteoarthritis might have been included in the 37 false positive patients, as Hutton et al reported in radiographically normal hands 2627 Besides, it may be impossible to differentiate ONK completely from osteoarthritis of the knee using only BS without plain radiographs of the knee, because ONK and osteoarthritis of the knee have a similar appearance on BS—namely, point-like or extended pattern,24 25 as mentioned above. Therefore, for the patients with increased bone uptake in the screening, it is desirable that ONK is diagnosed on BS and plain radiographs of the knee.…”

Fat-Suppressed 3D Spoiled Gradient-Echo MRI and MDCT Arthrography of Articular Cartilage in Patients with Hip Dysplasia

“…Conventional radiography has long been the major imaging technique for patients with osteoarthritis; however, inaccurate relationships between radiographic findings and the status of the articular cartilage have been identified [2,3]. Other imaging techniques available for the evaluation of articular cartilage disorder and osteoarthritic involvement are arthrography, bone scintigraphy [4,5], CT arthrography [6,7], and MRI [8][9][10][11]. Although CT arthrography has excellent diagnostic ability for cartilage disorder with satisfactory in-plane imaging resolution and tissue contrast in the knee joint [6,7], its diagnostic ability in the hip joint has been shown to be inferior because of susceptibility to partial volume averaging of the joint surface by limited longitudinal imaging resolution.…”