Hello everyone, I could really use some help here.
My mother is 55 and she’s been struggling with her hip lately; she can barely walk on her own anymore. To give some context, about 15 years ago, she underwent two surgeries to remove melanoma from her left groin area.
After seeing the orthopedic specialists at the Mayo Clinic, they told us her hip is deteriorating. They aren't quite sure if it's due to a bacterial bone infection or if it's radiation damage to the bone.
They ordered a full blood panel, a 3D CT scan, and a bone scintigraphy.
The blood work showed elevated sedimentation levels—three times the upper limit—and CRP was four times above the limit. Everything else looked fine.
The 3D CT scan didn't provide much clarity; essentially, they still don't know the exact cause of the bone decay.
Now, I've just received the results from a three-phase hip scintigraphy and a whole-body bone scan using Tc-99m.
In the perfusion phase and the early static scintigrams, there is increased radiopharmaceutical uptake in the left hip area.
The late static scintigrams show pathological activity accumulation in the left hip. It also notes significant lymphedema in the left bone.
So, what I'm wondering is, could someone explain what this actually means in plain English?
We are heading back to the doctor with these results, but frankly, I'm at my wit's end just waiting to find out what happens next.
Thanks a lot!
My mother is 55 and she’s been struggling with her hip lately; she can barely walk on her own anymore. To give some context, about 15 years ago, she underwent two surgeries to remove melanoma from her left groin area.
After seeing the orthopedic specialists at the Mayo Clinic, they told us her hip is deteriorating. They aren't quite sure if it's due to a bacterial bone infection or if it's radiation damage to the bone.
They ordered a full blood panel, a 3D CT scan, and a bone scintigraphy.
The blood work showed elevated sedimentation levels—three times the upper limit—and CRP was four times above the limit. Everything else looked fine.
The 3D CT scan didn't provide much clarity; essentially, they still don't know the exact cause of the bone decay.
Now, I've just received the results from a three-phase hip scintigraphy and a whole-body bone scan using Tc-99m.
In the perfusion phase and the early static scintigrams, there is increased radiopharmaceutical uptake in the left hip area.
The late static scintigrams show pathological activity accumulation in the left hip. It also notes significant lymphedema in the left bone.
So, what I'm wondering is, could someone explain what this actually means in plain English?
We are heading back to the doctor with these results, but frankly, I'm at my wit's end just waiting to find out what happens next.
Thanks a lot!