title: [Bone scintigraphy in neurosurgical practice (author's transl)].
abstract: Skeletal scintigraphy employing the new 99mTc-labelled compounds-99mTc-diphosphonate and 99mTc-polyphosphate-has proved to be a reliable technique for the detection of primary and metastatic tumors as well as non-neoplastic conditions of the skeletal system including the skull and spine. Recent experiences in 26 consecutive neurosurgical patients are reported. The bone scintigraphy seems to be most valuable in the clinical management of patients suspected of harboring metastatic deposit in the nervous system. In patients with malignancies elsewhere, the incidence of bone metastases is unexpectedly high, but the radiographic survey often fails to reveal the lesions in the initial stage. Bone scintigraphy, on the other hand, is highly reliable in detecting the bone metastases in its earliest stage, and the routine use of bone scintigraphy in such cases would be expected to help avoiding the unnecessary surgical intervention, or changing the plan of management, for example, from surgery to the systemic chemotherapy. Futhermore, bone scintigraphy seems to be useful in selecting the suitable site for biopsy, or in determining the targets for radiation treatment.
mesh_terms: D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D001943:Breast Neoplasms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006957:Hyperostosis Frontalis Interna / Q000175:diagnosis; D008175:Lung Neoplasms; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009837:Oligodendroglioma / Q000175:diagnosis; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000175:diagnosis; D012516:Osteosarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012888:Skull Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013667:Technetium; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms
chemical_list: D013667:Technetium