Radionuclide imaging of bone marrow in hematologic systemic disease

Radionuclide imaging studies of the bone marrow were carried out in 164 patients suffering from hematologic systemic disease. One third of 90 patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) or Non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) displayed a pathological distribution pattern representing bone marrow expansion. In HL there were 17% accumulation defects caused by metastases in contrast to only 7% in NHL. Among 30 patients with chronic myelocytic leukemia bone marrow expansion was found in 60%, bone marrow displacement and aplasia 10%. Focal bone marrow defects were found in 3 patients. All patients with primary polycythemia rubra vera displayed a pathologic bone marrow distribution pattern as well as splenomegaly. All patients with acute myelocytic leukemia (AML) and one patient with an acute lymphatic leukemia (ALL) had a pathological distribution pattern with bone marrow expansion and displacement. Focal bone marrow defects were not seen. Multiple myeloma with bone marrow expansion was found in 6 of 12 patients and focal accumulation defects were found in 40%, the latter lesions being not visible or equivocal on skeletal imaging studies. Pathological changes in liver and spleen were found in a high percentage of the total collective. The results document the important clinical value of bone marrow scintigraphy among the hematologic diseases studied. (orig./MG)