A comparison of skeletal scintigraphy and radiology for showing the osseous manifestations of generalised mastocytosis

Bone scans and skeletal X-rays of eight patients with systemic mastocytosis were reviewed. Mast cell infiltration of bone marrow had been proven histologically in every patient. Bone scan and roentgenographic findings are not specific for the disease and do not correlate well in some patients. A generalized increase of uptake was noted in two patients, a generalized decrease of skeletal activity with poor delineation of bony structures was observed in others. A circumscribed increase of activity was observed in some patients, only one patient had a normal bone scan. Roentgenographic examination revealed diffuse sclerosis of trabecular bone in three patients, osteoporosis with collaps of multiple vertebral bodies in three patients, and no abnormalities in two patients. (orig.)