Whole Body Bone SPECT-CT: Feasibility, Pros and Cons from a Technologist’s Point of View
Click here to find out more about whole body SPECT-CT studies
Nuclear Medicine Studies: Blood Pool SPECT-CT
Bloodpool phase imaging is commonly performed as part of a bone scintigram , particularly when we are interested in evaluating prostheses for infection or loosening. The blood pool phase typically follows the dynamic or vascular phase imaging as part of the three phase bone scan. Usually, the blood pool phase imaging is performed at 5…
Case of the week: Bone SPECT-CT dorsal navicular stress fracture
Clinical presentation This 18-year-old ballet student presented with chronic pain in the dorsal midfoot. There was no history of trauma. A bone SPECT-CT scan of the feet and ankles was requested by the orthopaedic surgeon to assess for the site of pain. Key findings Planar dynamic and blood pool phase images were unremarkable. This excluded…
Case of the week: Ischiofemoral impingement following total hip replacement on bone SPECT-CT
Clinical Presentation 65 year old woman with a history of a previous right total hip replacement performed 14 years ago. Now complaining of chronic pain in the right groin and inner thigh with a clunking sensation during walking. The orthopaedic surgeon was concerned about loosening of the hip replacement, so a bone SPECT-CT scan of…
Case of the week: Bone SPECT-CT Lumbosacral Transitional Vertebra
Clinical presentation 50 year old woman with a chronic history of pain in the lower back. A bone SPECT-CT of the lumbar spine was performed. Key Findings Lumbosacral transitional vertebra (LSTV) with fused right transverse process of L5 with the sacrum. Low grade uptake in the Castellvi 2a LSTV. Intense increased uptake in the left…
Nuclear Medicine Studies: SPECT-CT of total knee replacements
SPECT-CT Knee Imaging Protocol, Interpretation, and Indications What follows is my own imaging protocol which may be different from other centres. An injection of a Tc99m phosphate compound is followed by a dynamic acquisition of both knees and blood pool phase imaging. We have recently started performing SPECT-CT during the blood pool phase instead of…
Nuclear Medicine Studies: Foot & Ankle Bone SPECT-CT
The ability to localise accurately sites of bone inflammation in the foot and ankle makes SPECT-CT an invaluable tool for many specialists in this area. Due to complex anatomy in the foot, it can sometimes be difficult to confidently diagnose the cause of pain, particularly in patients with previous trauma or chronic conditions such as…
Nuclear Medicine Studies: Whole-Body Bone SPECT-CT Scans For Cancer Staging Improves Accuracy of Diagnosis
What exactly is a whole-body SPECT-CT? A SPECT-CT scan combines the high sensitivity of a bone scan with the increased specificity of a CT scan. The SPECT-CT study improves the localisation of bone uptake and helps characterise the cause of the bone uptake more clearly. This helps improve the diagnostic accuracy of the bone scan.…
Nuclear Medicine Studies: SPECT-CT of the spine
The demand for SPECT-CT scans of the cervical and lumbar spine, has been growing over the last few years. Healthcare professionals specialising in treating mechanical back pain are realising that they can take some of the guesswork out of diagnosing inflammatory causes of back pain. SPECT-CT is an extremely sensitive test for intervertebral disc, facet…
Case of the week: Tibial stress fracture and medial tibial stress syndrome on SPECT-CT
38-year-old male long-distance runner presents with chronic pain in both lower legs, worse on the right than the left. bone scan with SPECT-CT of the lower limbs was performed. Fig 1. Planar bone scan showing intense uptake in proximal right tibia and low grade uptake in medial left tibia. Fig 2a and 2b. Focal uptake…