A Comparitive Study Of Whole-body MR Imaging And Radionuclide Bone Scintigraphy In The Diagnosis Of Metastatic Spinal Tumors

Objective To compare the diagnostic value of Whole-body MR imaging and Radionuclide bone scintigraphy in metastatic spinal tumors。Methods 30 patients with known or suspicious metastasis in spine underwent both Whole-body MR imaging and Radionuclide bone scintigraphy:Whole-body MR imaging were applied with a 1.5T whole-body scanner (Siemens Medical System),head and neck coils,body coils and whole body surface coils were used。All patients were placed in the head-first supine on a rolling table platform,three contiguous sagital stations of FOV in the total spine and five contiguous coronal stations in the whole body were moved automatically without the need to reposition the patients;Radionuclide bone scintigraphy were applied with a dual head SPECT equipped with a high-resolution low-energy collimator。The examination was performed 2-3 hours after sterile injection of 600Mbq 99m Tc-labeled methylene diphosphonate (99mTc-MDP),urination was required before examination。Both A-P position and P-A position imaging were acquired。The spine and the other parts of the body were detected at the same time,the positive rate,the number of foci in different parts and the number of detecting primary tumors that were unknown before examination were compared respectively,all data were statistically analyzed。Results (1)The positive rates of Whole-body MR imaging and Radionuclide bone scintigraphy were 93.3%(28/30),73.3%(22/30)respectively,P<0.05,Whole-body MR imaging is better than Radionuclide bone scintigraphy in detecting metastatic spinal tumours;(2)Radionuclide bone scintigraphy is better than Whole-body MR imaging for the detection of metastases in ribs and skull,on the other part,Whole-body MR imaging tends to better detect lesions in the spine,pelvis and femur。(3)For 8 patients whose primary tumors were unknown before exmination,5 patients were detected by Whole-body MR imaging,but Radionuclide bone scintigraphy has no detection。Conclusion Compared to bone scintigraphy,Whole-body MR imaging could detect the metastases of spine and other parts of the body sensititively and accurately, primary tumors that were unknown before exmination could be found at the same time。It is good for the diagnosis and treatment of the patients and is able to be a conventional imaging modality for those patients with suspicious spinal metastases。...