However, there is some danger in biopsy: many of these patients
have a difficult time with wound healing, and it would be
preferable to have a non-invasive manner by which to support the
diagnosis of calciphylaxis. A 2002 KI article by Fine and
Zacharias provides evidence that a bone scan is fairly sensitive
for this diagnosis and could be used in lieu of a biopsy. Their
analysis indicated that 34 out of 36 patients with a diagnosis
of calciphylaxis had an abnormal bone scan--most commonly
reflected as showing increased uptake in the calves, typically
in the areas of pain/ulceration (as shown on the left). Of note,
this particular study does not really address how specific a
bone scan is at excluding alternative causes of this type of
dermopathy, but could still potentially be useful in the right
clinical setting. Unfortunately, calciphylaxis still carries
with it a very high mortality rate. Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Bone Scan for Diagnosis of Calciphylaxis? Calciphylaxis (also
called calcific uremic arteri