technetium-tc-99m-medronate and Fasciitis

Topics: Adult; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Fasciitis; Foot Diseases; Humans; Male; Radionuclide Imaging; Radiopharmaceuticals; Technetium Tc 99m Medronate

The presence of bone-seeking radiopharmaceutical uptake in extraskeletal tissues of the lower or upper extremities may indirectly reflect the presence of active inflammatory lesions in patients in whom systemic disease is suspected.. The authors present the case of a 26-year-old woman who had mixed signs of scleroderma and cosinophilic fasciitis, in whom misleading findings on planar bone scintigraphy suggested diffuse muscular tracer uptake in the lower extremities.. However, using additional SPECT imaging of the pelvis and thighs, it was shown that the soft tissue radioactivity was clearly restricted to the fascia overlying the muscles. The fascial localization of the inflammation was confirmed by biopsy.. SPECT imaging was proven useful in indicating the exact localization of an active inflammatory process in the muscle fascia.

Topics: Adult; Eosinophilia; Fascia; Fasciitis; Female; Humans; Radiopharmaceuticals; Scleroderma, Systemic; Technetium Tc 99m Medronate; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon

Plantar fasciitis is a common cause of heel pain. We evaluated scintigraphic localisation of the inflammatory focus in 15 patients with this condition. Technetium-labelled bone scans precisely localised abnormal discrete areas of tracer uptake in 12 (80%) of patients in the medial and posterior aspect below the inferior surface of the calcaneum. Steroid injection at the inflammatory site abolished local tenderness and reduced pain in all 12. Our findings support an injection approach through the medial heel border posterior to the point of heel tenderness. Technetium scintigraphy may be a useful investigation to localise the steroid injection site in resistant cases of plantar fasciitis.

Topics: Fasciitis; Foot Diseases; Heel; Humans; Injections; Radionuclide Imaging; Steroids; Technetium Tc 99m Medronate

Fifteen patients complaining of chronic heel pain underwent three-phase Tc-99m MDP bone scintigraphy. Ten patients demonstrated abnormal scan findings consistent with plantar fasciitis (PF) and had responded to conventional therapy. Two patients were found to have calcaneal stress fractures, and one patient demonstrated a calcaneal spur that required no treatment. The remaining two patients had normal scans and did not appear clinically to have PF. The three-phase bone scan is therefore very useful in diagnosing PF and in distinguishing it from other etiologies of the painful heel syndrome.

Topics: Adult; Chronic Disease; Fasciitis; Female; Heel; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Pain; Prospective Studies; Radionuclide Imaging; Technetium Tc 99m Medronate

Topics: Adult; Fasciitis; Female; Humans; Necrosis; Radionuclide Imaging; Technetium Tc 99m Medronate