Abstract:
Objective To investigate the value of 99Tcm-methylenediphosphonate (MDP) whole-body bone scan in screening fresh osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures (OVCF) in geriatric patients with osteoporosis (OP) and acute or chronic low back pain.
Methods The clinical data and other imaging data of 104 geriatric patients with OP who underwent 99Tcm-MDP whole-body bone scan for acute or chronic low back pain in Zhongshan Hospital Xiamen University from January 2017 to December 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. The patients included 33 males and 71 females aged 62–88 (78.8±7.7) years old. The patients were divided into 60–69 years old group (n=42), 70–79 years old group (n=43), and ≥80 years old group (n=19) according to their age and were divided into acute pain group (n=78) and chronic pain group (n=26) according to the pain onset time. With reference to X-ray examination results, the 99Tcm-MDP whole-body bone scan images of all patients were analyzed, and the detection rates of fresh OVCF were calculated. χ2 test was used for comparison among groups.
Results The detection rate of fresh OVCF in 104 geriatric patients with OP by 99Tcm-MDP whole-body bone scan was 72.1% (75/104), and the detection rate of fresh OVCF in the acute pain group was higher than that in the chronic pain group (87.2% (68/78) vs. 26.9% (7/26), χ2=35.209, P<0.001). The detection rates of fresh OVCF in the three age groups were 66.7% (28/42), 76.7% (33/43), and 73.7% (14/19), respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant (χ2=1.101, P>0.05). Among the three age groups, the detection rates of fresh OVCF in patients with acute pain was higher than that in patients with chronic pain (83.9% (26/31) vs. 18.2% (2/11), 88.6% (31/35) vs. 25.0% (2/8), 91.7% (11/12) vs. 42.9% (3/7); χ2=12.948, 11.398, 5.456; all P<0.05). Among the fresh OVCF detected, 80.0% (60/75) involved a single vertebral body, and 20.0% (15/75) involved two or more vertebral bodies.
Conclusion 99Tcm-MDP whole-body bone scan has clinical screening value for fresh OVCF when low back pain (especially acute low back pain) occurs in geriatric patients with OP.