Bone scintigraphy as a guide to the diagnosis of osteoid osteoma.

This report describes one case in which bone scintigraphy was helpful in establishing the diagnosis of osteoid osteoma and presents three other cases in which increased accumulation of 99mmTc-EHDP was found at the side of the osteoid osteoma. The study contributes to the observation by others that the osteoid osteoma occurs as a scintigraphic 'hotspot'. It is concluded that the diagnostic delay of the osteoid osteoma can be shortened when bone scintigraphy is performed more often and at an earlier stage in patients with unexplained bone pain or with a clinical history that leads to the suspicion of the presence of an osteoid osteoma.