Clinical use of radionuclide bone imaging in a university medical center.
To assess the diagnostic utility of radionuclide bone imaging, we reviewed all examinations performed during a two-year period in a university medical center. The indication(s) for each bone image and its interpretation were compared by reviewing requisition forms and medical records. Thirty-nine percent of 988 studies demonstrated relevant abnormalities. Yields of pertinent positive findings were greatest in patients with cancers of the breast (40%) and prostate (38%) and lowest in women with uterine cancer (15%), patients with previously normal bone images, and individuals with suspected but unconfirmed malignancy. Incidental findings, unrelated to the indication for imaging, occurred frequently (up to 41% of cases). We did not find a sizable number of negative studies that could readily be labeled as unnecessary, suggesting that bone imaging to generally a useful procedure as applied by physicians in this setting.
D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003657:Decision Making; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D006745:Hospital Bed Capacity, 300 to 499; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical; D014861:Washington