Nuclear Medicine Imaging in Rheumatic Diseases

The rapid development of medical imaging technologies has greatly enhanced the utility of nuclear medicine imaging modalities over the last decade. Hybrid imaging technology merging computed tomography (CT) with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET) allows superimposing the physiologic data obtained by SPECT or PET on the detailed anatomy of CT, yielding a better understanding of the disease status and improving diagnostic performance. However, the conventional whole body bone scan and three phase bone scan still have their own distinct role as diagnostic imaging, reflecting the changes of bone metabolism in benign and malignant diseases, including rheumatic diseases. A review of each nuclear medicine imaging technique and clinical applications in various conditions of rheumatic diseases will be presented in this article. (J Rheum Dis 2017;24:4-13)