We determined the uptake of 99mTc-labeled hydroxymethylene diphosphonate
in a surgically created defect in the canine tibia with early dynamic and
delayed static bone scans. The defect consisted of a cortical bone window,
ten by five millimeters, centered over the middle of the tibia. The dynamic
bone scans consisted of sixty one-second images of the tibia, recorded
immediately after the injections of 99mTc, and the static scans were single
forty-five-minute uptake images of the tibia. These were performed and the
dogs were killed at seven, fourteen, and twenty-eight days postoperatively.
The dynamic scans detected the postoperative increase in tibial blood flow
because the values calculated from these scans demonstrated a significant
linear relationship to tibial blood flow determined with radioactive
microspheres (r = 0.76, p less than 0.001). The increased uptake of 99mTc
in the cortical defect that was detected with static scans was attributable
not only to the increased blood flow but also to uptake by immature bone.
Early dynamic bone-imaging increases the versatility of bone scintigraphy.
The significant correlation between the dynamic scans and bone blood flow
suggests that this non-invasive technique can provide a quantitative
comparison of changes in regional blood flow in bone.