Case report
Bone Scintigraphy Reveals Pulmonary Microcalcification Secondary to Coronary Stent Thrombosis
Deparment of Nuclear Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Korea
Correspondence to Sang- Hyeong Kil, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, 20, Geumo-ro, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, 50612, Republic of Korea, Tel: +82-55-360-1901, E-mail: rlf1007@naver.com
Volume 29, Number 2, Article 9, November 2025. Korean J Nucl Med Technol 2025;29(2):9. https://doi.org/10.12972/kjnmt.2025.29.2.9
Received on May 26, 2025, Revised on June 10, 2025, Accepted on June 16, 2025, Published on November 39, 2025.
Copyright © 2025 Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Purpose: This case report describes an unusual presentation of diffuse pulmonary uptake of Tc-99m dicarboxypropane diphosphonate (Tc-99m DPD), attributed to pulmonary microcalcification resulting from coronary stent thrombosis. Materials and Methods: A 64-year-old man with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and a previous drug-eluting coronary stent placement underwent Tc-99m DPD bone scintigraphy for suspected avascular necrosis of the femoral head. Results: Bone scintigraphy revealed focal uptake in the femoral head, indicative of avascular necrosis, as well as unexpected diffuse pulmonary uptake of Tc-99m DPD. These findings were interpreted as evidence of pulmonary microcalcification secondary to coronary stent thrombosis, likely due to microembolic vascular inflammation and subsequent calcium deposition. Conclusion: This case highlights the diagnostic utility of detecting extraosseous radiotracer uptake and emphasizes the need to correlate nuclear imaging results with cardiovascular history to identify systemic disease manifestations.
Keywords
Bone Scintigraphy, Pulmonary Microcalcification, Coronary Stent Thrombosis, Tc-99m DPD, Extraosseous Radiotracer Uptake