85Strontium Scintimetry of the Spine

85Sr step-scan scintimetry of the spine was performed in 123 patients with normal spines (twenty cases), osteo-arthritis (forty cases), compression fractures (twenty-seven cases), metastatic disease of the spine(ten cases), spondylitis (twenty-one cases), and Paget's disease (five cases). This method was found to permit precise topographic and quantitative evaluation of 85Sr uptake of the spine. This method has value in: 1. Differentiation between recent compression fracture (high values) and older ones (six months) (normal values); 2. Evaluation of compression fractures secondary to pathological processes other than osteoporosis (high values); 3. Detection of occult metastases to the spine; 4. Evaluation of the activity of a spondylitic focus; 5. Differentiation between spondylarthrosis (normal values) and specific disease entities (high values).