Role of nuclear medicine applications in rheumatological disease | ||
| Sohag Medical Journal | ||
| Volume 29, Issue 3, 2025, Pages 136-142 PDF (887.47 K) | ||
| Document Type: Review Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/smj.2025.413488.1605 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Mai Hassan Gad El Rab* 1; mai mahmoud fahmy2; Esraa Mohammed3; Aya Mohamed Ahmed Ali2 | ||
| 1Rheumatology | ||
| 2rheumatology | ||
| 3nuclear medicine, faculty of medicine, sohag university | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Diagnosing rheumatological diseases is often challenging due to nonspecific clinical presentations. Nuclear medicine offers a sensitive, functional imaging approach to detect inflammatory and non-inflammatory conditions early, aiding in diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment evaluation. Bone scintigraphy using Tc-99m MDP is widely utilized for detecting increased osteoblastic activity in disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteomalacia, and Paget’s disease. Hybrid techniques like SPECT/CT and PET/CT, particularly with 18F-FDG, allow for whole-body imaging, improved lesion localization, and assessment of disease activity. These are especially valuable in vasculitis, RA, ankylosing spondylitis, sarcoidosis, and rare conditions like retroperitoneal fibrosis. In addition to diagnostics, nuclear medicine also plays a therapeutic role through radio synovectomy, where beta-emitting isotopes like Yttrium-90 are intra-articularly injected to manage chronic synovitis. PET/CT imaging can also predict treatment response, supporting personalized therapy strategies in autoimmune arthropathies. Nuclear medicine thus provides high sensitivity, comprehensive assessment, and prognostic insight in rheumatologic care, offering both diagnostic and therapeutic advantages over conventional imaging. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| nuclear medicine; rheumatological disease; applications | ||
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