Atlas of Normal Bone Scan and ¹¹¹In White Blood Cell Findings in Porous-Coated Hip Prostheses

Abstract

The nuclear medicine physician is often asked to evaluate the patient with a painful hip prosthesis with specific regard to the presence of loosening or infection. The scintigraphic findings for complicated and uncomplicated cemented hip prostheses have been well described.^1–4 Recently, hip arthroplasty using porous-coated protheses has gained popularity. Since prosthesis fixation occurs as bone and fibrous tissue grow into the porous surface of the prosthesis,⁵ increased localization of bone-avid isotopes might occur unrelated to the presence of aseptic loosening or infection. It is necessary to know the scintigraphic appearance of the uncomplicated porous-coated prosthesis to diagnose reliably the presence of an abnormality.