Screening of the skeleton by plain radiography was compared to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the lumbar spine in 41 patients with multiple myeloma. In the lumbar spine, myeloma lesions were detected in 15 patients with radiography and in 28 patients with MRI. Radiography of the lumbar spine was not positive in any of the 13 cases with negative MRI, but in two of them radiography was positive elsewhere in the skeleton. We suggest that plain radiography is the most suitable method for screening all bone areas in multiple myeloma, but MRI of the lumbar spine is needed to study patients with normal radiographs.