Understanding Nuclear Bone scans
Hi All. Newbie here .
I have a question about the above. I had one done and the report came back all clear. However, when I look at the lateral images my lower spine has a lot of hot spots?
A recent MRI has raised concerns about mets to the spine and I'm having a PET scan tomorrow. But I'm wondering why the hot spots were ignore on the report? I've attached a picture of the scan I'm talking about. Can anyone help pls?
Comments
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As a general answer not referencing your images since that is up to your doctors, hot spots on a bone scan show changes in bone metabolism. This can be caused by arthritis, previous fractures, infections, degeneration due to aging and other conditions besides cancer. Radiologists use your medical history and additional scans to help analyze the results. Eventually, if a spot is thought to be suspicious, a biopsy is done to determine whether there is malignancy.
I hope your follow up scans are also clear. All the best.
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susieq,
As Maggie mentioned spots can show up for many reasons and your follow up should help clarify things . We are not medical professionals and not your medical professionals so it’s best to leave imaging interpretations to those folks. Take care.
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@susieq1969 This is a really scary process, but trust the experts, and if you have any questions when you get to the end of all the scans, seek a second opinion at a top cancer center.
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Susieq1969 - You should get a report from the radiologist. They appear in things like MyChart, not long after you get the scan. You can read there what the radiologist has determined. You can then ask your doctor if you have any questions or go on and get further opinions from other doctors. I would start by reading the report the radiologist submits. As all above have said - spots can show for all kinds of reasons and none of us non-experts would be able to comment. Good luck with this.
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