[Magnetic resonance imaging in screening for bone metastasis? A prospective comparison with bone scintigraphy]

To define the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in screening for bone metastases (BM) compared to bone scintigraphy (BSc) 102 patients with tumours with frequent BM were examined also by MRI of spine, pelvis, femora, and proximal tibiae. All patients had normal BSc and 96 (94%) normal MRI. Only 6% of the patients had focal abnormalities within the bone marrow. This indicates that there is a 94% probability of absence of BM if BSc is normal. Therefore, BSc should currently remain the method of choice for screening for BM. Despite MRI is sensitive and specific, with the common technique up to now it should not be used instead of BSc in screening because of costs, duration, and lack of whole body examination. MRI is a valuable adjunct in equivocal findings in BSc with negative results on radiographs.