Isotope imaging

Patients with a wide variety of rheumatological conditions can be usefully investigated by nuclear medicine techniques and particularly by bone scintigraphy. This aspect of nuclear medicine work is increasing and the trend can be expected to continue. The principal conditions that can be imaged are sports medicine injuries, osteomyelitis, avascular necrosis, reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome, enthesopathies and bio-mechanical stress lesions, inflammatory arthropathies, metabolic bone disease and miscellaneous bone conditions such as costo-chondritis. Single photon emission tomography (SPECT) has provided new indications for bone scintigraphy such as the evaluation of spondylolysis and facet syndrome in the spine and of meniscal tears and ligamental lesions.