Clinical and experimental evaluation of osteotropic radiopharmaceuticals

The paper concerns sup(99m)Tc-pyrophosphate, monofluorophosphate and methylene diphosphonate produced by Amersham, CEA-Sorin, Isokomerz and developed in the USSR. Differences in their distribution and excretion from the body have been demonstrated in animals and man. Methylene diphosphonate is regarded superior in terms of imaging the skeleton, a high level of fixation in the skeletal bones (up to 40 %) and a rapid clearance from the blood (55 % in the first 3 h after administration). Discussed is the influence of the content of some components (the amount of pyrophosphate, stannous chloride, pH of the solution) on the behaviour of these agents in the animal body. The main clinical and diagnostic aspects of the utilization of sup(99m)Tc-phosphate compounds (detection or confirmation of the primary bone lesion; determination of the extent of skeletal pathological changes; evaluation of therapeutic efficacy; differential diagnosis of bone diseases) have been considered using the findings of examination of 200 patients