99Tcm nanocolloid scintigraphy:: a reliable way to detect active joint disease in patients with peripheral joint pain

We evaluated Tc-99(m) nanocolloid (NC) scintigraphy as a method for identifying patients with active joint disease in a group with peripheral joint pain of varying aetiology. Fifty-nine patients with peripheral joint pain were divided into two groups: those with clinical signs of active joint inflammation and those without objective signs. Thirty-four patients clinically diagnosed as having active joint disease had a total of 117 joints (95 large and 22 small) involved. Tc-99(m) NC identified 96 (79 large and 17 small) of these joints. Twenty-five patients were negative clinically. Twenty-two of these were scan negative. The other three had a total of 11 scan positive joints. The correlation coefficient between clinical and scan findings was 0.79. There was no significant difference shown between clinical evaluation and scintigraphy (z=-1.64, P = 0.1004). Tc-99(m) NC proved to be an effective method for identifying patients with active peripheral joint disease from among a group with arthralgia. ((C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins).