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Tc-99m MDP uptake into extraosseous malignant lesions with metastases to soft tissue has been well described. Tc-99m MDP uptake has been reported in primary lesions and usually in single metastatic sites including the regional lymph nodes, the abdomen, and especially the liver. In metastatic adenocarcinoma, previous studies showing extraosseous uptake have revealed histopathologically that calcification or ossification had occurred in the soft tissue. The authors report an unusual case of soft-tissue metastases in colonic adenocarcinoma that were detected on routine bone scintigraphy. The histopathologic findings did not reveal calcification, ossification, or necrosis.

Periosteal bone reaction manifested by shin splints and stress fractures on Tc-99m MDP bone scanning have been widely described in athletes. In this case, an elite volleyball player, whose primary role is blocking and spiking (forced elbow extension), demonstrates increased linear periosteal uptake of isotope along the medial aspect of the right humerus-so called «arm splints»

FRTL-5 cells, a diploid line of differentiated rat thyroid epithelial cells, have been grown as multicellular spheroids in spinner culture. Spheroids were initiated by seeding FRTL-5 cells either into Lab-Tek dishes or culture flasks with a 0.5% agar base. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH, greater than 1.0 mU/ml) was required for initial cell aggregation and spheroid growth. After 1 wk cellular aggregates were transferred to suspension culture in spinner flasks. As with FRTL-5 monolayer cultures, continued spheroid growth required the addition of TSH to the culture medium. The most unique characteristic of the FRTL-5 spheroids was the development of central lumina similar to thyroid follicles in vivo. Follicular structures were absent from spheroids not stimulated with TSH. In the presence of TSH epithelial cells seem metabolically active with morphological evidence of biosynthesis of thyroglobulin-like material and basal laminar-like components. In contrast, all evidence of cellular metabolic activity is absent from cells in spheroids maintained in the absence of TSH. Thus, nontransformed FRTL-5 cells grown as three-dimensional multicellular spheroids responded to hormonal manipulation in a manner comparable to follicular epithelial cells in vivo. This spheroid model might therefore prove to be a very effective tool for investigating aspects of thyroid physiology and pathology in vitro.