LOCALIZED BENIGN FIBROUS TUMORS OF THE PLEURA - MR APPEARANCE

Purpose: Our goal is to describe the MR findings in benign localized f ibrous tumors of the pleura. Method: Chest radiographs, CT scans, and MR images of four patients with localized benign fibrous tumors of the pleura were retrospectively reviewed and correlated with the patholog ic findings. Results: Tumors ranged from 4 to 18 cm in their largest d iameter. Three tumors were located in the diaphragmatic region, and on e was within the left major fissure. All tumors were round to ovoid, p edunculated, and well delineated. On T1-weighted SE MR images, tumors showed low signal intensity. All tumors had heterogeneous but predomin antly low signal intensity on proton-density-weighted images and lower signal intensity on T2-weighted images. Conclusion: Localized benign fibrous tumors of the pleura were characterized by low signal intensit y on all MR sequences that is explained by high collagen content withi n the tumors' stroma and should suggest the diagnosis preoperatively.