Gallbladder visualization on a technetium-99m MDP bone scan

Area of Science:

• Nuclear medicine
• Oncology
• Radiology

Background:

• Bone scans are crucial for detecting bone metastases in cancer patients.
• Gallbladder issues like cholelithiasis can coexist with various systemic diseases.

Observation:

• A 54-year-old woman with metastatic breast carcinoma presented for a bone scan.
• Concurrent cholelithiasis (gallstones) was noted in the patient.

Findings:

• The bone scan demonstrated an intense concentration of radionuclide within the gallbladder.
• This suggests an unexpected accumulation of the imaging agent in the gallbladder.

Implications:

• The intense gallbladder uptake may represent an atypical biodistribution pattern of the radiotracer.
• Further investigation may be warranted to understand the mechanism behind this observation in patients with breast cancer and gallstones.