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The Bone Scan in Avascular Necrosis

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Bone Scanning in Clinical Practice

Abstract

The histological features of osteonecrosis are death of the osteocyte and the cellular elements in the adjacent marrow. Most investigators concede that the stage immediately preceding cellular demise is the interruption of the blood supply. The debate centres around the evolution of events that lead to the end stages of ischaemia and necrosis. The list of conditions associated with ischaemic osteonecrosis is long and the aetiological connections are frequently tenuous. The list has been divided into definite and probable association (Ficat and Arlet 1980). Definite aetiological associations include major trauma, caisson disease, sickle cell disease, post-irradiation necrosis, necrosis of arterial origin, Gaucher’s disease, frostbite and electrical injury. In these conditions the effect follows the cause, and their linkage and mechanism of bone death are not too controversial.

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Authors
  1. L. Rosenthall
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Guy’s Hospital, St. Thomas Street, London, SE1 9RT, UK

    Ignac Fogelman BSc, MD, MRCP (Consultant Physician) (Consultant Physician)

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© 1987 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Rosenthall, L. (1987). The Bone Scan in Avascular Necrosis. In: Fogelman, I. (eds) Bone Scanning in Clinical Practice. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1407-9_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-1407-9_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-1409-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-1407-9

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