Figure 3

Changes in the SUVmax of the parietal bone with the duration of bisphosphonate administration, including and excluding patients with bone metastasis. (a) The box-and-whisker plot of the SUVmax of the parietal bone of three groups of patients categorised according to the duration of bisphosphonate administration: A, BP naïve (14 patients), B: < 4 years (7 patients), C: ≥ 4 years (8 patients). There was a significant difference between Group A and Group B (P < 0.05), but no significant difference was found between Group B and Group C (P = 0.52). (b) The box-and-whisker plot of the SUVmax of the parietal bone in all patients classified into three groups after excluding four patients with bone metastasis treated with intravenous bisphosphonate. There was no significant difference between A and B (P = 0.09). Although there was a significant difference between B and C (P < 0.05), its accuracy was considered to be low because of the small sample size of Group C.