Sarikaya, AAygit, ACPekindil, G2024-06-122024-06-1220030914-71871864-6433https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02984973https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14551/20453Purpose: Osteomyelitis of the foot is a frequent complication of diabetes mellitus and its diagnosis is often difficult. The goal of this study was to demonstrate the utility of Tc-99m dextran scintigraphy in suspected diabetic foot infections. Materials and Methods: Twenty-six patients (20 males, 6 females, age range 18-80 years) with diabetes mellitus who had a total of 36 foot ulcers or necrosis were studied. All the patients underwent both three phase bone scan and Tc-99m dextran scintigraphy. Final diagnosis was based upon either pathologic examination or clinical follow-up at least four months. Results: On bone scan increased uptake was seen in 55 sites, and among these there were 11 lesions of proven osteomyelitis. There were 11 true-positive, 0 false negative, 0 true negative and 44 false positive results for bone scan. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of bone scan were 100%, 0% and 20%, respectively. With regard to Tc-99m dextran scan, nine lesions produced true-positive results with two lesions indicating false negatives resulting in a sensitivity of 82%. Thirty-six true negative and eight false positive results produced a specificity of 82%, and an accuracy 82% from Tc-99m dextran studies was obtained. Eight false-positive results were possibly due to neuroarthropathy, pressure points and deep penetrating ulcers. A patient with one false-negative result had angiopathy while other had neither neuropathy nor angiopathy. Conclusions: According to these results, Tc-99m dextran scintigraphy seems to be a sensitive and specific diagnostic method, and because of its advantages over other radiopharmaceuticals (shorter preparation time, highly stability in vivolin vitro, early diagnostic imaging and low cost), it may be a radiopharmaceutical of choice for diagnosing in diabetic foot infections.en10.1007/BF02984973info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessDiabetic FootInfectionScintigraphyTc-99m DextranLeukocyte ScintigraphyImmunoglobulin-GInfectionsDiagnosisBoneLymphoscintigraphyInflammationJointArticle178669676Q4WOS:0001885936000072-s2.0-104227967314971609Q2