GRAFTED BONE USED IN ACETABULAR RECONSTRUCTION - ASSESSMENT BY SPECT SCINTIGRAPHY

Objective. To investigate incorporation of the grafted bone used for a cetabular reconstruction. Design. Single photon emission computed tomo graphy (SPECT) was carried out at the Ist, 6th, and 12th month after t he operation and the uptakes on serial SPECT scintigrams were normaliz ed. The horizontal histogram of scintigraphic activity at the level of the central grafted bone in the coronal image was designated the prof ile curve. Patients. Seven patients who had undergone bipolar hip arth roplasty for osteoarthritis of the hip were randomly selected. Results and conclusion. Five of seven profile curves obtained at the Ist mont h demonstrated a single peak at the host-graft junction. The profile c urve obtained at the 6th month showed two peaks at the host-graft junc tion and the periphery of the grafted bone in all patients. The profil e curve at the 12th month showed slightly increased activity in the ce nter of the grafted bone. This preliminary study demonstrates that com parison of the serial profile curves on SPECT is valuable in evaluatin g the progress of incorporation of the grafted bone in hip arthroplast y.