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A Case of Pediatric Leg-Length Difference After Tibial Fracture Predicted by Bone SPECT/CT

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Abstract

An 11-year-old boy underwent a bone single-photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) scan 3 months after fracturing his right tibia. The standardized uptake values (SUVs) of the growth plates in his right tibia were higher compared to those in the left tibia. One year later, the right leg was 10 mm longer than the left leg with higher SUVs in the right tibial growth plates. After performing epiphysiodesis at the right proximal tibia, the leg-length difference (LLD) decreased from 17 to 12 mm with the decrease of SUVs in the growth plates of the right tibia. This case emphasizes the potential of quantitative analysis using bone SPECT/CT in predicting LLD and determining the necessity of length equalization surgery in pediatric lower limb fractures.

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Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.

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Funding

This research was supported by the Fund of Biomedical Research Institute of Jeonbuk National University Hospital.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics Surgery, Jeonbuk National University Medical School, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences and Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Jeonbuk National University-Biomedical Research Institute of Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea

    Sung Il Wang

  2. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Research Institute of Clinical Medicine of Jeonbuk National University-Biomedical Research Institute of Jeonbuk National University Hospital, Cyclotron Research Center, Molecular Imaging and Therapeutic Medicine Research Center, Jeonbuk National University Medical School and Hospital, 20, Geonjiro, Jeonju, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea

    MinJeong Kim & Yeon-Hee Han

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  1. Sung Il Wang
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Contributions

The study was designed by Sung Il Wang and Yeon-Hee Han. Material preparation and data collection were performed by MinJeong Kim. The data analysis was performed by MinJeong Kim and Yeon-Hee Han. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Sung Il Wang and Yeon-Hee Han, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yeon-Hee Han.

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Sung Il Wang, MinJeong Kim, and Yeon-Hee Han declare no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in this study involving human participant were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Wang, S.I., Kim, M. & Han, YH. A Case of Pediatric Leg-Length Difference After Tibial Fracture Predicted by Bone SPECT/CT. Nucl Med Mol Imaging 58, 35–39 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-023-00820-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13139-023-00820-7

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