Is 99mTc human immunoglobulin G scintigraphy (HIG-scan) useful for the detection of spinal inflammation in ankylosing spondylitis?
OBJECTIVE
To determine the effectiveness of technetium-99m labelled polyclonal human immunoglobulin G (HIG-scan) scintigraphy to detect spinal inflammation in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.


METHODS
Six ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients with inflammatory axial pain and 3 spinal osteoarthritis (OA) patients with mechanical axial pain underwent an HMDP scan and an HIG-scan.


RESULTS
In both AS and spinal OA patients complaining of axial back pain, mechanical and inflammatory axial pain, bone scintigraphy revealed foci of markedly increased tracer accumulation. An HIG-scan of the region of increased uptake on bone scintigraphy did not reveal increased tracer accumulation in either group of patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The data suggest that the HIG-scan is not useful in detecting inflammatory spinal lesions in ankylosing spondylitis.
de Vlam
K
K
Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital Gent, Belgium. kurt.devlam@rug.ac.be
Van de Wiele
C
C
Mielants
H
H
Dierckx
R A
RA
Veys
E M
EM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D013669:Technetium Tc 99m Medronate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods*
D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C079358:technetium TC 99m polyclonal IgG; C024226:technetium Tc 99m hydroxymethylene diphosphonate; D013669:Technetium Tc 99m Medronate