["Cold lesions" in bone scintigraphy (author's transl)].

Frequency and location of "cold lesions" has been analysed in 1000 consecutive bone scans. Among the 554 abnormal cases there were 18 (1,8% of the total) with localized diminished activity due to metastatic lesions and 5 (0,5%) secondary to radiation osteitis. 10 of the 18 patients with metastatic disease had pure defects while 8 showed a reactive margin. It is pointed out that the quality of the examination is crucial for the demonstration of such defects and that single scans of the different regions of the skeleton are superior to a whole body scan. The survey of the literature shows that "cold lesions" are predominant in malignant bone diseases, however no relation exists to a definite histology.