Quantitative bone scanning in the diagnosis of aluminium osteomalacia

Skeletal uptake of diphosphonate was measured by emission tomography in 30 patients on chronic dialysis treatment. In 19 patients mean plasma aluminium concentrations, measured over the preceding 12 months, were 'high' (greater than 1.0 mumol/l, and in the other 11 were 'low' (less than 1.0 mumol/l). There was a strong correlation between serum alkaline phosphatase and skeletal uptake of diphosphonate in each group, but no difference in diphosphonate uptake between the groups. Additionally, when six patients with positive desferrioxamine tests were matched for serum alkaline phosphatase with six patients from the 'low' aluminium group there was no significant difference in uptake of diphosphonate (median and range 7.2; 5.2-16.5 and 5.9; 2.7-10.8 respectively). We conclude that skeletal uptake of diphosphonate is not suppressed in patients with moderate aluminium loading, but reflects bone turnover as indicated by serum alkaline phosphatase. Quantitative bone scintigraphy is not a useful discriminator for early aluminium osteomalacia.