99mTc-DPD uptake in juvenile hemarthrosis. Scintimetry and autoradiography of the knee in dogs.

The pathogenesis of subchondral bone lesions and growth plate affection in hemophilic arthropathy was studied in puppies by means of repeated regional 99mTc-diphosphonate scintimetry and contact autoradiography. Unilateral hemarthrosis of the knee was induced by biweekly intraarticular injections of autologous blood for 12 weeks. Hemarthrosis caused an early (2 to 4 weeks) decrease in uptake of 99mTc-diphosphonate in the juxtaarticular growth plates (ratio 0.7) and a delayed (8 to 10 weeks) increase in epiphyseal uptake (ratio 1.5). In a recovery phase after hemarthrosis, growth plate uptake returned to normal, while the epiphyseal uptake remained elevated for 8 to 10 weeks. By contact autoradiography, the growth plate uptake was localized to the calcification layer at the metaphyseal aspect of the growth plates, while the epiphyseal uptake mainly was seen in the thin subchondral and subsynovial bone layer and around osteophytes. The changes in uptake of 99mTc-diphosphonate following hemarthrosis for 3 months were reversible and could be ascribed to the presence of synovial inflammation.