Young Population Attending for Whole Body Technetium 99MDP Bone Scintigraphy: A Single Institution Experience

Abstract

Objective: Radionuclide isotope scanning is a sensitive scanning procedure for the detecting of bone pathology. This article focuses on an institution experience bone Scintigraphy applications in patients below 25 years.Patients and methods: This study is a retrospective descriptive study that analyzed the handwritten medical records of patients younger than 25 years old referred for Technetium bone scan in Mansoura University Hospital, Nuclear Medicine Unit from August 2011 to October 2015.Results: Seventy-six patients younger than 25 years old were referred for bone scan. The main cause of referral was metastatic work up. Osteosarcomas and Ewing tumors constituted together the commonest malignant tumors referred while osteochondromas were the commonest benign tumors. The area around the knee was the commonest affected area in the primary bone neoplasm’s while the vertebrae and the pelvis were the commonest sites of distant metastasis. No recorded complications existed secondary to the injection of the radioactive material. The commonest defect was lack of documentation of the family history.Conclusion: This study helped to elucidate the extent of medical support that our nuclear medicine unit can give to other pediatric and adolescent medical specialties. It demonstrates also the wise selection of the cases to be referred for bone scan. To maximize the benefit from our bone scan service, analysis of differences between our unit and older larger units in the country is needed as regard policy decisions and financing. Digital reporting will put an end to mistakes in handwritten patient records.