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CC BY 4.0 · World J Nucl Med 2024; 23(01): 003-009
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1760760
Review Article

Potential Role of Bone Scintigraphy in the Diagnosis of Calciphylaxis

Khushboo Gupta
1   Department of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine Division, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
,
Pokhraj Prakashchandra Suthar 
2   Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
,
Neetal Bhave
2   Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
,
Jagadeesh S. Singh
2   Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
,
Sindhuja M. K. Venkatraman
3   Department of Pathology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, United States
,
Rahul B. Jadhav
4   Department of Radiology, Neurointervention Radiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
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Abstract

Nonosseous abnormalities are often seen on bone scans and can be related to a wide variety of pathology ranging across vascular, infection, and inflammatory etiology. Diffuse soft tissue radiotracer uptake on bone scans is typically attributed to renal or metabolic derangements. Calciphylaxis is the deposition of calcium in small blood vessels, skin, and other organs leading to vascular obstruction and skin necrosis. It is a rare disorder with unknown pathophysiology. Diagnosis of calciphylaxis is challenging and requires an interdisciplinary approach including clinical findings, laboratory results, medical imaging, and skin biopsy. An early diagnosis is important as the disease is associated with high morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this review article is to highlight the role of bone scintigraphy in the evaluation of calciphylaxis and to correlate the findings with other imaging modalities and histopathology.

Keywords

calciphylaxis - 99mTc MDP bone scan - computed tomography - ESRD - histopathology

Note

Calciphylaxis is a disease of vasculopathy with unknown etiology. Multimodality imaging plays an important role in diagnosis. This article evaluates the role of bone scan in calciphylaxis.




Publication History

Article published online:
29 January 2024

© 2024. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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