Diagnostic value of the different methods for evaluation of bone metastasis in breast carcinoma.

A group of 263 patients portraying breast Ca staged through the clinic, is studied and evaluated by different methods of diagnosis as regards bone metastasis. A clinical investigation of bone pain, specific laboratory determinations for Ca-P-alkaline phosphatase; bone X ray, bone scintigraphy with gamma camera are carried on. In some pre-selected cases bone biopsy performed. A 15.9% of the patients with breast Ca showed bone metastasis. Scintigraphy was positive in a 100% of these cases, pain in 62%, X ray in 41%. The final results of laboratory were discarded since they were not considered reliable. Highly specific positive zones for bone metastasis and benign bone pathology were detected when sectioning the spine in the classical zones. A methodological sequence is proposed.