Persistent Colonic Activity on 99mTc-MDP Whole Bone Scintigraphy Revealing a Complex Ureterorectal Fistula
Intense bowel activity on 99mTc-MDP bone scintigraphy is often dismissed as urinary contamination or radiopharmaceutical instability, but persistent uptake should prompt an anatomic search. A 68-year-old woman with metastatic cervical squamous cell carcinoma after radical pelvic surgery underwent bone scintigraphy for suspected left-foot metastasis. Images showed sacral/pelvic metastases, benign-appearing calcaneal uptake, and organized colonic activity. Contrast-enhanced CT revealed a complex fistulous tract connecting the left distal ureter, vaginal stump, rectum, and sigmoid colon. Follow-up pelvic SPECT/CT localized persistent activity to the rectosigmoid lumen, confirming fistula-related intraintestinal urine. Recognition redirected interpretation from artifact to actionable urinary-enteric fistula with clinical implications.
Authors
- Hui-Chung Teng
- Hung-Pin Chan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9741-5824)
- Ming-Chan Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3447-1196)
- Chang-Ching Yu
- Daniel Hueng-Yuan Shen
Institutions
- National Sun Yat-sen University (TW)
- Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital (TW)
- Cheng Shiu University (TW)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Clinical Nuclear Medicine
- Published
- 2026-08-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1097/rlu.0000000000006666
- Primary Topic
- Medical Imaging and Pathology Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00