DIAGNOSIS OF OSTEITIS IN ANGIOLOGY PATIENTS - COMPARISON OF X-RAY ANDBONE SCANS

Purpose of the study was to examine the ranking of radiographs and bon e scans in the diagnosis of osteitis. Patients and methods: 115 patien ts with arterial occlusive disease in stage Fontaine IV were referred for examination of the peripheral skeletal parts of the lower extremit y, 126 radiographs and bone scans were taken. The time between the two examinations was 10 days maximum to enable direct comparison. Leukocy te scintigraphy was employed as gold standard. Results: The sensitivit y of radiographs was 47% with a specificity of 91%. Sensitivity and sp ecificity of bone scans was 78% for both values. The positive predicti ve values for radiographs and bone scans were 88% and 85%, the negativ e predictive values were between 80% and 97%. Conclusion: In the major ity of cases osteitis can be diagnosed with relatively inexpensive met hods such as conventional x-rays and bone scans. Only in unclear cases further examinations such as leukocyte scintigraphy or magnetic reson ance imaging should supplement the diagnosis.