[The diagnosis of pulmonary calcinosis by scintigraphy (author's transl)]

Three patients are described who were examined with the bone-seeking substance 99mTc-E.H.D.P. The abnormalities discovered were ascribed to metastatic calcification in the lungs. The patients suffered from three quite different conditions, but in each there was hypercalcaemia. One patient had chronic renal insufficiency with secondary hyperparathyroidism, in the other cases the cause of the hypercalcaemia could not be determined. In one patient, it was possible to confirm the diagnosis of pulmonary calcinosis histologically. Previously published cases indicate that it is possible to demonstrate lung calcification by using Tc-phosphate compounds, particularly 99mTc-E.H.D.P. This is important, since it is often not possible to demonstrate it radiologically. It further demonstrates that the accumulation of 99mTc-E.H.D.P. is dependent on active bone metabolism.