A clinical comparison of MDP and DMAD

Tc-99m labeled dimethyl-amino-diphosphonate (DMAD) was compared with methylene diphosphonate (MDP) in five healthy volunteers and 28 patients with a variety of bony afflictions. Although the normal bone uptake of DMAD is less than MDP, the lesion-to-normal bone ratio is significantly higher with DMAD. All 71 lesions detected with MDP were also seen with DMAD. However, 10 lesions were disclosed with DMAD that were not seen with MDP. These lesions tended to have low grade concentrations of the radiopharmaceutical and were detected with DMAD by virtue of the lower normal bone uptake rather than higher lesion uptake.