[The value of magnetic resonance imaging in the surveillance of fibromatosis. A study of 10 cases]. / Intérêt de l'imagerie par résonance magnétique dans la surveillance des fibromatoses. Etude de 10 cas.

Retrospective study of 10 patients followed for fibromatosis after initial treatment by magnetic resonance imaging. There is a close correlation between an intense signal on weighted T2 images and tumour recurrence. Inversely, a low signal on the weighted T2 image indicated fibrotic sequelae without tumour recurrence. The examination should commence with the weighted T2 sequence. The injection of contrast medium may be an alternative.

[Contribution of gadolinium DOTA in primary tumors of bone and soft tissue]. / Apport du gadolinium DOTA dans 20 tumeurs primitives des os et des parties molles.

20 patients with a primary musculo skeletal tumor were investigated by MRI to assess the efficacy of Gd DOTA. The essential contribution is that it distinguishes the active parts of the lesion, intratumoral necrosis or sequelae cavities that do not take up the contrast medium. The injection does not allow for differentiation between tumor recurrence and treatment-induced inflammatory abnormality.

The role of magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of Ewing sarcoma. A report of 27 cases.

The experience with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 27 patients with Ewing sarcoma is reported and compared with computed tomography (CT) and plain films. Plain radiography proved to be the best imaging method to asses probable histological diagnosis in all cases (n = 6). For the evaluation of chemotherapeutic response (n = 4), CT and MRI gave the same information about the variation in size of the tumor. In this small series, the high signal in T2 weighted images was not altered significantly by therapy. In preoperative evaluation (n = 14), MRI gave better information than CT of soft tissue involvement and extension within the bone marrow in two cases each. The ability of MRI to accurately define extension through the epiphyseal plate in two cases permitted limb salvage which otherwise would not have been possible. In the long-term follow-up (n = 12), three patients without recurrence one year after therapy showed a low signal in the surgical area in T2 weighted images. Nine patients had a high signal in T2 weighted images: four were reactive lesions, two had obvious recurrence, and one was a hematoma. In the two remaining cases plain films and CT were normal, in the presence of both active tumor and reactive lesions. It was not possible with MRI to differentiate active tumor from reactive change, even after Gd-DTPA infusion.

Problems and pitfalls in the use of computed tomography for the local evaluation of long bone osteosarcoma: report on 30 cases.

Forty-eight, computed tomography (CT) examinations undertaken in 30 patients with osteosarcoma of long bones were studied in detail, their diagnostic information being compared with that obtained from corresponding plain films. The latter were of more value in assessing peripheral bony involvement, by cortical extension and periosteal reaction, while the former, in general, permitted more accurate observation of extensions into adjacent soft tissues. Recognition of such extensions, however, was vitiated when they arose in relation to the proximal ends of the tibia, fibula, and humerus and when a haematoma had developed as a result of a biopsy. Plain films were also of more value in appreciation of response to chemotherapy. On the other hand CT is the only examination which permits a satisfactory study of intramedullary extensions of the tumour and in consequence is invaluable in determining the exact sites required for local resection. No cases of skip metastases were observed in our series, although similar appearances due to nutrient vessels or bony ridges, remote from the primary tumour, were noted on several occasions. Differentiation of these densities proved to be easy, particularly in the case of nutrient vessels when examination of the contralateral bone showed them to be symmetrical. Several authors have described the role of CT in the evaluation of local extensions. This paper reports the difficulties and errors encountered by us.

Chondrosarcoma in children subsequent to other malignant tumours in different locations.

During recent years the combination of surgery, radiotherapy, and multiple chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with cancer has resulted in increased survival periods and, in some cases, complete cures. In children, however, the subsequent development of other and apparently unrelated malignancies has been observed 20 times more commonly than in a control group. This paper reports the occurrence of chondrosarcoma of the femur in two children who had been treated successfully for malignant tumours of soft tissue. One of these tumours was a malignant fibrous histiocytoma in the muscles of the forearm; the other was a rhabdomyosarcoma of the cheek. The intervals between termination of treatment of these lesions and recognition of the chondrosarcoma were five years and 10 years, respectively. In addition to surgical and radiotherapeutic measures, both children had received high doses of chemotherapy.