Gallium citrate Ga 67 scintigraphic detection of chronic osteomyelitis in children with leukemia.

Chronic osteomyelitis producing unexplained fevers without localizing symptomatology may present difficulty in detection and differentiation in patients with leukemia. Gallium citrate Ga 67 scintigraphy offers a method of detection and localization of both the osseous and extraosseous manifestations of such a process. Once identified, further evaluation by conventional radiographic or sectional imaging techniques may further define the process. We describe three patients with leukemia and unexplained fever in whom occult chronic osteomyelitis was diagnosed by 67Ga scintigraphy, which offers an ideal screening procedure and should be utilized in this clinical setting.