SKELETAL IMAGING WITH (FNA)-F-18-PET AND COMPARISON WITH PLANAR SKELETAL SCINTIGRAPHY

Purpose: We evaluated the feasibility of (18)Fluoride Positron Emissio n Tomography (F-18-PET), investigated the characteristic appearance of bony structures, and compared the quality of F-18-PET images with con ventional bone scans (BS). Method: F-18-PET scans were performed in 59 patients additional to conventional bone scintigraphy. Results: Even very small details in the spine like the spinous and transverse proces ses were clearly visible with F-18-PET. Only half of these structures were visualised with BS. When visualising the vertebral bodies of the first rib from the clavicles and the twelfth rib from the kidneys, we arrived at similar results. Hot spots in the skull or at the manubrios ternal joint were observed in 29% of the patients without any evidence of trauma, degeneration or metastasis. Conclusion: F-18-PET shows mor e details of the skeleton compared to BS. Some hot spots not occurring with BS must be regarded as physiological.