Soft tissue uptake of bone agents

This volume, and others, attest to the wide-ranging application of bone-seeking radiopharmaceuticals to diagnostic problems in clinical practice. The often non-specific and occasionally artefactual nature of soft tissue uptake provides the unwary observer with a source of uncertainty and error. Conversely, awareness of specific conditions with soft tissue uptake of tracer greatly enhances the diagnostic value of the study. The purpose of this chapter is to review the wide range of disease processes where recognition of nonskeletal soft tissue uptake of 99mTc phosphates is of value in clinical practice. Emphasis has been placed firstly upon the diagnosis which can be made by chance from the bone scan and secondly on the use of bone imaging for specific detection of conditions known to cause accumulation of bone agents in soft tissues. Artefactual uptake in soft tissue is also briefly discussed