Integrating Pathophysiology and Imaging of skeletal infections: A Holistic Approach

Elhamadawy, Mai Amr; Elhennawy, Gihan A; Omar, Waleed; Elgazzar, Abdelhamid H

doi:10.22038/aojnmb.2026.91906.1675

Integrating Pathophysiology and Imaging of skeletal infections: A Holistic Approach

Articles in Press

Document Type : Review article

Authors

Mai amr elhamadawy ¹

Gihan A Elhennawy ¹

Waleed Omar ¹

Abdelhamid H Elgazzar ²

¹ Department of Radiation oncology and Nuclear Medicine National Institute of Carcer Cairo University

² Department of Radiation oncology and Nuclear Medicine, National Cancer Institute, Cairo University

10.22038/aojnmb.2026.91906.1675

Abstract

Skeletal infection can be a major public health problem. Accurate and early diagnosis of inflammatory and infectious musculoskeletal diseases can be difficult and may be time-consuming, from a clinical standpoint. Imaging is required in a large number of cases for the diagnosis and localization. Clinical examination, laboratory tests, and conventional imaging are the initial evaluation. With the significant expansion of medical imaging, many advanced imaging modalities have become available for the diagnosis. The choice of modality as well as the patterns of findings on many techniques depend on pathophysiological changes. It is then essential to have a clear understanding of the pathophysiology of different skeletal infections. This is of utmost importance for the physician and imaging specialists so that they can select the appropriate imaging modality or modalities for each patient and interpret them effectively based on this understanding. This review presents the pathophysiologic features of major musculoskeletal infections in integration with multimodality imaging aiming for effective diagnosis, localization and proper interpretation.

Keywords

Radionuclide imaging

bone

Inflammation

infection

Subjects