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Bone scan - Results

Alternative Names

Scintigraphy - bone

Normal Values:

Test results are considered normal if the radiotracer moves evenly throughout all the bones in your body.

What abnormal results mean:

The images should show that the radioactive material has been evenly distributed throughout the body. There should be no areas of increased or decreased distribution. "Hot spots" are areas where there is an increased accumulation of the radioactive material. "Cold spots" are areas that have taken up less of the radioactive material.

Nuclear scan

Reviewed last on: 11/2/2009
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

References

Coleman RE, Holen I. Bone metastases. In: Abeloff MD, Armitage JO, Niederhuber JE, Kastan MB, McKena WG, eds. Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2008:chap 57

Baker LH. Bone tumors: primary and metastatic bone lesions. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 212.

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