Diagnosis of partial and total physeal arrest by bone single-photon emission computed tomography

Bone single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), capable of creating maps of the distribution of osteoblastic activity in every spatial plane of a physis, should provide images of diagnostic value in the case of patients suffering from growth arrests (epiphysiodeses). Seventy-five bone SPECT scans were obtained in 64 children suspected to have developed physeal arrests. The transaxial slices of the physis, in the case of partial epiphysiodeses: (a) indicated the percentage of the remaining normal physis, (b) located the bony bridge within the physis and (c) showed the slowdown of the growth of the remaining normal physis induced by the bony bridge in some children. Misdiagnosis occurred in six patients. For total epiphysiodeses, the radionuclide diagnosis was confirmed in 20 of 21 patients. Radionuclide, x-ray and MRI examinations in the study of growth disturbances were found to be complementary.