This site is targeted at medical and radiology professionals, contains user contributed content, and material that may be confusing to a lay audience. Use of this site implies acceptance of our Terms of Use.

Superscan

Dr Yuranga Weerakkody and Dr Frank Gaillard et al.

A superscan is intense symmetric activity in the bones with diminished renal and soft tissue activity on a Tc⁹⁹m diphosphonate bone scan.

This appearance can result from a range of aetiological factors

diffuse metastatic disease
- prostatic carcinoma
- breast cancer
- transitional cell carcinoma (TCC)
- multiple myeloma (some difference in opinion)
- lymphoma
  - patchy uptake nonetheless : look at skull and ribs
  - tends to somewhat spare the distal skeleton
metabolic bone diseases
- renal osteodystrophy
- hyperparathyroidism ¹ (often secondary hyperparathyroidism)
- osteomalacia
  - will involve distal skeleton
  - smoother uptake
myelofibrosis / myelosclerosis
mastocytosis
wide spread Paget's disease