Increased FDG uptake by bone marrow in major beta-thalassemia.

A 26-year-old man with a history of major beta-thalassemia was referred to our center for suspicion of femoral bone sepsis. He was treated 12 years ago for femoral bone sepsis that occurred after epiphysis trauma and was scheduled for further surgery. He underwent both F-18 FDG coincidence detection-emission tomography (CDET) and Tc-99m HDP bone scintigraphy in our department. As expected because of beta-thalassemia, bone scintigraphy showed both increased diffuse uptake in all metaphyses and epiphyses and elevated renal activity. FDG-CDET images showed increased diffuse uptake in the bone marrow. The pattern of FDG uptake by the bone marrow in beta-thalassemia should be recognized because of the risk of false positive results.