ABSTRACT
We report on Sudeck's dystrophy in a 69-year-old woman who complained of recurrent pain and local inflammation in the right hand. Magnetic resonance (MR) using T1- and T2-weighted images before and after intravenous administration of gadolinium diethylene-triamine pentaacetic acid demonstrated soft-tissue swelling, bone signal intensity changes in some carpals and metacarpals, and small effusions in the adjacent joints. MR imaging provides simultaneous assessment of bone and soft-tissue involvement, proving its value in the diagnosis of this entity.
Subject(s)
Hand , Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy/diagnosis , Aged , Female , Gadolinium DTPA , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Organometallic Compounds , Pentetic Acid/analogs & derivativesABSTRACT
Technetium-99m-DPD and gallium bone scanning were concomitantly performed in patients suffering from either infectious spondylitis or erosive spondylopathy. This comparative study in 5 patients with spinal infections and in 7 patients with lumbar erosive intervertebral osteochondrosis shows a distinct enhancement of the isotopes used such that differentiation between infections and aggressive degeneration is possible. Combined scintigraphy may be a helpful diagnostic tool in such cases.
