ABSTRACT
Bone scintigraphy is a nuclear medicine modality that has been used for the detection and follow-up of bone metastases of malignant tumors. Bone scintigraphy, which provides indirect visualization of metastatic lesions by showing osteoblastic activity in the bone tissue, is not sensitive enough in the detection of osteolytic metastases, early stages of metastases, and small lesions. Conventional [magnetic resonance (MR), diffusion-weighted MR] and molecular imaging methods [F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computerized tomography (FDG PET/CT), Ga-68 prostate specific membrane antigen PET/CT, etc.] that perform tumor-specific imaging, complement and gradually replace bone scintigraphy in cases where it is insufficient. In this review, the effectiveness of imaging methods in the detection of bone metastases in malignancies that most commonly metastasize to the skeletal system is examined, especially focusing on the changes in the current use of Tc-99m methylen diphosphonate bone scintigraphy.
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