title: The clinical value of bone and gallium scintigraphy for soft-tissue sarcomas of the extremities.
abstract: In a prospective study of forty-five patients, we evaluated the usefulness of bone and gallium scintigraphy prior to definitive surgery for a soft-tissue sarcoma in an extremity. Bone scintigraphy provides a baseline for staging and often reveals periosteal invasion that is not detected by routine radiographs. Blood-pool scintigraphy with bone tracers is very sensitive for a diagnosis of malignant disease. Gallium scintigraphy appeared to be a reliable preoperative indicator of malignant disease of soft tissue (sensitivity, 85 per cent; specificity, 92 per cent) and was useful for detecting the infrequent occult, non-pulmonary metastasis. Combined gallium and bone scintigraphy with blood-pool imaging provided a reliable prediction of the presence or absence of a malignant lesion in patients with a soft-tissue mass in an extremity. We recommend that bone and gallium scintigraphy be routinely used in the initial clinical staging of soft-tissue sarcomas.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D004164:Diphosphonates; D012968:Etidronic Acid; D005260:Female; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D013667:Technetium; D013669:Technetium Tc 99m Medronate
chemical_list: D004164:Diphosphonates; D005710:Gallium Radioisotopes; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; C019561:technetium Tc 99m etidronate; D013667:Technetium; D012968:Etidronic Acid; D013669:Technetium Tc 99m Medronate