Incidental diagnosis of pregnancy on bone and gallium scintigraphy

Bone and gallium scintigraphy were performed as part of the diagnostic workup of a 21-yr-old woman who presented at our institution with a history of progressively worsening low back pain over a 1-wk period of time. The angiographic phase of the bone scan demonstrated a well-defined radionuclide blush within the pelvis just cephalad to the urinary bladder with persistent hyperemia noted in the blood-pool image. We attribute these findings to a uterine blush secondary to the pronounced uterine muscular hyperplasia, hyperemia, and edema that accompany pregnancy. Gallium scintigraphy demonstrated intense bilateral breast accumulation of the imaging agent in a typical doughnut pattern which is commonly found in the prelactating and lactating breast. Also demonstrated was apparent gallium accumulation in the placenta. This case is presented to emphasize the radionuclide findings that occur during pregnancy, particularly the incidental finding of radionuclide blush during the angiographic phase of a radionuclide scintigraphy which should alert the nuclear physician to the possibility of pregnancy in a woman of childbearing age.