Assessment of inflammatory jaw pathologies using bone SPECT/CT maximum standardized uptake value

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the assessment of inflammatory jaw pathologies using bone single-photon emission CT-CT (SPECT/CT) maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax). Methods: 44 patients with inflammatory jaw pathologies (7 chronic osteomyelitis, 8 osteoradionecrosis and 29 medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ)) underwent SPECT/CT at 4 h after injection of 99mTc hydroxymethylene diphosphonate. The SPECT/CT parameters SUVmax of the inflammatory jaw pathologies were analyzed. Statistical analyses for the SUVmax were performed by one-way repeated measures analysis of variance with Tukey's honestly significant difference test. A p-value lower than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean and standard deviation of SUVmax for 7 chronic osteomyelitis, 8 osteoradionecrosis and 29 MRONJ were 24.94 ± 3.65, 12.27 ± 5.47 and 16.55 ± 9.12, respectively. The SUVmax for chronic osteomyelitis were significantly higher than those for osteoradionecrosis (p = 0.011) and MRONJ (p = 0.043). Conclusions: Bone SPECT/CT SUVmax in the uptake of 99mTc hydroxymethylene diphosphonate reflecting bone physiological changes for chronic osteomyelitis were significantly higher than those of osteonecrosis, such as osteoradionecrosis and MRONJ. Bone SPECT/CT SUVmax should be useful for the assessment of inflammatory jaw pathologies, such as chronic osteomyelitis, osteoradionecrosis and MRONJ.