Early diagnosis of infective spondylitis with gallium-67

Bone scan with ⁹⁹Tc is considered to be a sensitive examination for early diagnosis of spinal infection. A case of pyogenic diskitis in a 54-yr-old man is reported, in which the standard ⁹⁹Tc bone scan was normal, but a ⁶⁷Ga scan was positive and compatible with the clinical diagnosis. This observation reinforces a previous report on a pediatric patient, that bone scan using ⁶⁷Ga may be the most sensitive radioisotopic examination for early detection of pyogenic diskitis, and is helpful in the differential diagnosis between diskitis and vertebral osteomyelitis.