Scintigraphic skeletal changes in uremic patients on regular hemodialysis

99Tcm-polyphosphate (Tc-PP) bone scintigraphy was performed in 30 consecutive uremic patients on regular hemodialysis and compared with a normal control group. 27 of the patients (90%) had pathological accumulation on the scintigrams, while roentgenographic abnormalities were present in only 10 patients (33%), indicating that scintigraphy is superior to X-ray in the early detection of skeletal changes in uremic patients. In the group with the most pronounced uptake on the scintigrams there was a preponderance of previously kidney-transplanted patients, while no correlation could be demonstrated between the severity of the scintigraphic findings and the duration of the hemodialysis period, the anephric state of the patients, the underlying kidney disease or the sex. It is suggested that intensive glucocorticoid treatment, even of short duration in the previously kidney-transplanted patients, may aggravate uremic osteodystrophy.