PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Valeria M. Moncayo AU - Sebastine Chimafor AU - Elizabeth Lulaj AU - John A. Malko AU - Raghuveer K. Halkar TI - Can the Diagnostic Accuracy of Bone Scintigraphy be Maintained with Half the Scanning Time? AID - 10.2967/jnmt.121.262163 DP - 2021 Jul 01 TA - Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology PG - jnmt.121.262163 4099 - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/early/2021/07/30/jnmt.121.262163.short 4100 - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/early/2021/07/30/jnmt.121.262163.full AB - Purpose: We aim to show that the acquisition time of a conventional bone scan can be reduced by one-half without loss of the diagnostic value of the scan. Materials and Methods: Fifty adult patients (37 male and 13 female, mean age 62.5, SD 8.7 years) were enrolled. Patients were injected with 25–30 mCi (925-1110 MBq) 99mTc MDP IV. The Standard Protocol whole body planar images were acquired first [scan speed = 10 cm/min, acquisition time around 20 minutes] and were followed immediately by the Half-Time Protocol whole body planar images [scan speed = 20 cm/min; acquisition time around 10 minutes]. Both images were interpreted by two nuclear medicine physicians. Each reviewer, when reviewing the Standard Protocol images, was “self-blinded” to the result they had obtained when reviewing the Half-Time images, and vice-versa. This self-blinding was accomplished by allowing a minimum of two weeks to elapse between the two interpretations. We used the κ-coefficient to compare the agreement between the Standard-Protocol results and the Half-Time results. Results: There was no difference in clinically significant diagnostic information for Half -Time and Standard Protocol. The diagnostic quality of Half-Time and the Standard Protocol images were not significantly different (0.86 < κ < 1.0). Conclusion: Our data suggest that if we reduce the 99mTc MDP dose by half and keep the acquisition time at its standard value we gain the benefits of reduced dose without loss of diagnostic value of the scan.