Treatment of choroidal melanoma: MR imaging in the assessment of radioactive plaque position.

Verification of the position of an episcleral iodine-125 gold plaque in relation to underlying choroidal melanoma is essential during early radiation therapy to ensure accurate plaque placement and thus optimum dose delivery. The authors used magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to examine 15 patients with choroidal melanoma after plaque placement to assess tumor coverage. The relationship of the plaque to the tumor was well defined in all cases, including two tumors anterior to the ora serrata. MR imaging measurements of the plaques were within 1 mm of the actual plaque sizes, while tumor measurements were within 2 mm of the preoperative ultrasound estimations of tumor dimensions. Tumors as small as 3 mm thick were readily visualized with MR imaging. Associated subretinal effusion was demonstrated in seven cases.

Use of MR imaging to assess results of chemotherapy for Ewing sarcoma.

MR imaging was used to monitor the results of initial chemotherapy of primary Ewing sarcoma of bone. The signal intensities of the soft-tissue and marrow components of the tumor were evaluated on T2-weighted images obtained in 10 patients (nine with responsive tumors) at presentation and during and immediately after completion of two cycles of chemotherapy. MR evidence of marrow and soft-tissue involvement was seen in all tumors at presentation. After treatment, the bone-marrow component of the nine drug-sensitive tumors showed an increase in signal intensity that in eight cases became comparable to that of water. Changes in signal intensity of the soft-tissue component were variable, consisting of increases in two of the responsive lesions, no change in three, a decrease in two, and complete resolution of the soft-tissue mass in two. There was no increase in signal intensity of either the bone-marrow or the soft-tissue component of the single nonresponsive tumor. All of the responsive tumors showed advanced healing, and abundant bony sclerosis was apparent on CT. Bone-marrow examinations, performed in seven of the nine patients with responsive lesions, disclosed no evidence of tumor in four. Two patients had residual extramedullary tumor; the nonresponsive lesion contained sheets of tumor cells. The increase in marrow signal intensity on T2-weighted images was associated with replacement of marrow elements by a loose, hypocellular myxoid matrix containing modest amounts of collagen, consistent with response to chemotherapy and eradication of disease. Therefore, an increase in the T2-weighted signal intensity of the bone-marrow component of Ewing sarcoma of bone reflected a favorable response to chemotherapy. MR signal changes, however, were not predictive of resolution of malignant disease within adjacent soft tissue.