[Bone marrow scintigraphy. Contribution to the diagnosis and the prognosis of myelofibrosis].

During the last three years 77 patients with myelofibrosis were studied by scintigraphy, using 99m Tc colloids and 111 In transferrin as tracers. Low axial uptake of the colloids, extension of the indium uptake beyond the axis towards the knees and sometimes the ankles and elbows, and splenic indium uptake are valuable diagnostic criteria, particularly useful to exclude myelofibrosis associated with a malignant disorder. The clinical severity of the disease, and in particular the disappearance of a physiologically active bone marrow (indium uptake) can be predicted from isotopic studies. Bone marrow scintigraphy could contribute to the difficult decision of splenectomy.