[Bone scintigraphy in renal osteopathy]

25 Patients with chronic renal disease are investigated. In 16 cases with conservative treatment the bone scintigram showed pathological uptake according to the creatinine level, mainly in the joints of iliosacrum, hip, knee and ankles. In three patients increased uptake in the skull was found. The bone uptake found by scintigraphy was highly pronounced in the patients treated by dialysis. The most frequently involved regions were the joints of iliosacrum and hip, facial cranium, skull, pelvis and metatarsus. The count-rate ratio of cranium to chest was significantly increased in 6 patients. The investigations 6 months later showed in 4 cases a further increase compared with the first values. Count-rates of the skull were found to be comparable to the highly increased uptake in Paget's disease. Bone scintigraphy is a suitable method to estimate semiquantitatively the bone turnover in renal disease.