MR-IMAGING OF SOFT-TISSUE MASSES - ROLE OF GADOPENTETATE DIMEGLUMINE

To assess the effectiveness of gadopentetate dimeglumine in the magnet ic resonance (MR) imaging evaluation of soft-tissue masses without oss eous involvement, 30 patients underwent MR imaging before and after ad ministration of contrast material (0.1 mmol/kg). Of the 30 lesions, 22 were benign and eight were malignant; histologic confirmation was ava ilable in all lesions except one benign lesion. Overall, enhancement w as detected in 26 (87%) of 30 lesions: 18 (82%) of the 22 benign lesio ns and eight (100%) of eight malignant lesions. Enhancement was charac terized as homogeneous (two [11%] benign lesions, two [25%] malignant lesions). inhomogeneous (11 [61%] benign lesions. six [75%] malignant lesions), or peripheral (five [28%] benign lesions, no malignant lesio ns). Of the 19 lesions assessed for a change in enhancement over time, seven (37%) showed an increase and two (11%) showed a decrease in sig nal intensity. The authors conclude that benign and malignant soft-tis sue lesions could not be differentiated solely on the basis of enhance ment (pattern, degree, or time course).