Radiography and bone scintigraphy in multiple myeloma: a comparative analysis.

The sensitivity of radionuclide imaging for detecting skeletal lesions was compared with that of radiography by evaluating 573 different anatomical sites in 41 patients with multiple myeloma. Radiography revealed a significantly greater number of myeloma-related bone lesions than did radionuclide imaging. Of the 179 myeloma-related bone lesions detected when both techniques were applied, 163 were seen by radiography and 82 by radionuclide imaging. Ninety-seven lesions were detected by radiography alone and 16 lesions seen by scintiscanning only, yielding a sensitivity of 91% for the former and of 46% for the latter technique. Radionuclide imaging proved superior to radiography only occasionally in the rib cage, and rarely in other anatomical sites. These findings suggest that radiography is the method of first choice in obtaining a skeletal survey in patients with multiple myeloma. In cases with continued pain, unexplained by standard radiography, the skeletal survey should be supplemented by tomography and radionuclide imaging.