Incidental finding of knee osteoarthritis in bone scans performed in obese patients with neoplasia

Bone scanning performed in the Nuclear Medicine Center (IPEN-INEN) to patients with neoplastic diagnosis between January 1995 and June 1996, permitted the incidental finding of increased uptake images in the knees of 28 patients associated to an asymptomatic arthropathy: osteoarthritis. The histories and bone scanning of this patients were reviewed obtaining their weight, occupation, symptomatology, neoplastic diagnosis and previous scan diagnosis. Patients under 66 years old, asymptomatic, were included, not presenting secondary focuses, without arthropathia antecedent and with a body mass index equal or above class I. The arthropathy was classified according to the localization of the compromised compartment of the knee. >From the body mass index assessment of every patient it was obtained: Class I=12, Class II=11, Class III=3 and Class IV=1. The predominant localization of the osteoarthritic lesions was the patellar zone. We discuss factors that may influence the absence of symptoms of this disease, the relation obesity-osteoarthritis and the usefulness of bone scanning in the diagnosis of this arthropathy in these patients. (authors). 16 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs