Men, Women, and Bone Scintigraphy

Three blinded observers evaluated whole-body bone scintigrams to determine the criteria that differentiate the gender of the imaged individual. The scintigraphic signs with the greatest discriminatory power were patterns of tracer uptake corresponding to male and female genitalia. Five other criteria (uterine displacement of the bladder, breast uptake of tracer, prostatic displacement of the bladder on the anterior view, chest wall attenuation, and uterine uptake of tracer) were complementary in gender discrimination. Although the most experienced observer demonstrated the greatest accuracy of gender identification on bone scintigraphy, less experienced residents also demonstrated a high degree of skill using these seven criteria