PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Moncayo, Valeria M. AU - Chimafor, Sebastine AU - Lulaj, Elizabeth AU - Malko, John A. AU - Halkar, Raghuveer TI - Can the Diagnostic Accuracy of Bone Scintigraphy Be Maintained with Half the Scanning Time? AID - 10.2967/jnmt.121.262163 DP - 2021 Dec 01 TA - Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology PG - 330--333 VI - 49 IP - 4 4099 - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/49/4/330.short 4100 - http://tech.snmjournals.org/content/49/4/330.full SO - J. Nucl. Med. Technol.2021 Dec 01; 49 AB - We aimed to show that the acquisition time of a conventional bone scan could be reduced by half without losing the diagnostic value of the scan. Methods: Fifty adult patients (37 male and 13 female; mean age, 62.5 y; SD, 8.7 y) were enrolled. The patients were injected with 925–1,110 MBq (25–30 mCi) of 99mTc-methylene diphosphonate intravenously. The standard-protocol whole-body planar images were acquired first (scan speed, 10 cm/min; acquisition time, ∼20 min) and were followed immediately by the half-time protocol whole-body planar images (scan speed, 20 cm/min; acquisition time, ∼10 min). Both sets of images were interpreted by 2 nuclear medicine physicians. Each reviewer, when reviewing the standard-protocol images, was self-masked to the result he or she had obtained when reviewing the half-time images, and vice versa. This self-masking was accomplished by allowing a minimum of 2 wk to elapse between the 2 interpretations. We used the κ-coefficient to compare agreement between the standard-protocol results and the half-time results. Results: There was no difference in clinically significant diagnostic information between the half-time and standard protocols. The diagnostic quality of half-time and standard-protocol images did not significantly differ (0.86 < κ < 1.0). Conclusion: Our data suggest that if we reduce the 99mTc-methylene diphosphonate dose by half and keep the acquisition time at its standard value, we gain the benefit of reduced dose without loss of diagnostic value.