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Absent Sternum as the First Manifestation of Bone Metastasis on Bone Scintigraphy

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Abstract

The sternum is known as a relatively common site for bone metastases by a variety of malignant neoplasms. The usual finding is increased radiotracer uptake on bone scintigraphy, and cold metastasis is distinctly unusual. In addition, total nonvisualization of the sternum presenting as bone metastasis is extremely rare. We describe two cases with similar findings (absent sternum showing no activity of the sternal segments on bone scintigraphy), which corresponded to metastatic involvement. These findings were shown to be the first manifestation of hepatocellular carcinoma in one patient and bone metastasis in another patient with ovarian cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Chonbuk National University Medical School and Hospital, San 2-20 Geumam-dong, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, 561-180, South Korea

    Myung-Hee Sohn, Seok Tae Lim, Young Jin Jeong, Dong Wook Kim & Hwan-Jeong Jeong

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Chonbuk National University Medical School and Hospital, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, Korea

    Chang-Yeol Yim

  3. Research Institute of Clinical Medicine, Chonbuk National University Medical School and Hospital, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, Korea

    Myung-Hee Sohn, Seok Tae Lim, Dong Wook Kim, Hwan-Jeong Jeong & Chang-Yeol Yim

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  1. Myung-Hee Sohn
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  2. Seok Tae Lim
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  3. Young Jin Jeong
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  4. Dong Wook Kim
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  5. Hwan-Jeong Jeong
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  6. Chang-Yeol Yim
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Correspondence to Myung-Hee Sohn.

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Sohn, MH., Lim, S.T., Jeong, Y.J. et al. Absent Sternum as the First Manifestation of Bone Metastasis on Bone Scintigraphy. Nucl Med Mol Imaging 44, 90–93 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-009-0015-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-009-0015-2

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