Focal Spinal Abnormalities on Bone Scans in Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Clue to the Presence of Fracture or Pseudarthrosis

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Abstract
Four cases of ankylosing spondylitis are presented in which radionuclide bone studies indicated focal abnormalities of the spine. In three patients, the area of abnormal nuclide uptake corresponded to a site of pseudarthrosis, and in the fourth an acute fracture was present. As such focal lesions on bone scans are unusual in cases of chronic ankylosing spondylitis in which a complication is not apparent, their presence can be a useful finding.