[Clinical usefulness of scintigraphy with 99m technetium phosphates in rhabdomyolysis]

We performed bone scans with 99mTechnetium phosphates in 15 cases of clinically suspected rhabdomyolysis admitted to Chigasaki Tokushukai Hospital. Whole body scans were performed within 5 days from the onset of illness or admission. Accumulation of the radioactivity in the skeletal muscle was revealed in 13 of the 15 cases and the involved muscle groups were visualized vividly. Etiologies of rhabdomyolysis were diverse, ranging from malignant syndrome to sepsis. Myocardial concentration was absent in all of the cases. Renal concentration of the isotope was seen in cases where the degree of rhabdomyolysis was higher and renal impairment was present. We conclude that 99mTechnetium phosphate bone scan is useful in clinically suspected rhabdomyolysis as a diagnostic test and as a test to localize and quantitate the muscular involvement.