Nuclear medicine imaging of diabetic foot infection: results of meta-analysis.
OBJECTIVE
Osteomyelitis of the foot is the most commonly encountered complication in diabetic patients. Nuclear medicine techniques are usually complementary to radiology in the diagnosis of foot infections; they play an important role in various clinical situations. The aim of this study was to develop a practical guideline to describe the radiopharmaceuticals to be used for different clinical conditions and different aims in diabetic foot infection.


METHODS
In this study, we reviewed 57 papers (published between 1982 and 2004; 50 original papers and seven reviews) that described the imaging of the diabetic foot and examined a total of 2889 lesions. We performed data analysis to establish which imaging technique could be used as a 'gold standard' to diagnose infection, evaluate the extent of disease and monitor the efficacy of therapy.


CONCLUSIONS
We provide a guideline to assist in the selection of the optimal radiopharmaceuticals for different clinical conditions and different aims.
Capriotti
Gabriela
G
Nuclear Medicine, II Faculty of Medicine, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
Chianelli
Marco
M
Signore
Alberto
A
D003663:Decision Trees; D017719:Diabetic Foot / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009683:Nuclear Medicine; D010019:Osteomyelitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011871:Radiology / Q000379:methods*; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals