Bone scintigraphy depicts bilateral atypical femoral stress fractures with metachronous presentation, long before a complete fracture occurs.

Abstract

Atypical femoral fractures (AFF), although rare, are recognized more often during the last decade. They are located in the subtrochanteric region or the femoral shaft, may be bilateral, can evolve to complete fractures after bone overload or minimal trauma and have specific radiological features. The complete fractures have horizontal or slightly oblique configuration accompanied by a medial spike, are non-comminuted, and extend to both cortices. There is also generalized cortical thickening of femoral shaft. Newer evidence suggests that AFF are stress or insufficiency fractures, possibly associated with long-term use of bisphoshonates (BP). AFF can also occur in oncologic patients referred for bone scintigraphy and, in such a case, they should be differentiated from bone metastases. We present here a case with bilateral AFF with metachronous appearance in a female patient with a history of breast cancer and osteoporosis. The first AFF had been depicted on bone scintigraphy 3 years before a complete fracture occurred at this site, but the finding was overlooked. A second bone scan performed shortly after the fracture in order to exclude underlying bone metastases disclosed an additional unsuspected incomplete AFF in the contralateral femur, which was confirmed by radiography. In conclusion, oncologists should consider other causes of bone pain besides bone metastatic disease, and physicians interpreting whole body bone scans of oncologic patients should be aware of the entity of AFF, in order to avoid false positive results and provide early information about an impending complete AFF.