THE ROLE OF MAGNETIC-RESONANCE-IMAGING IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF SOFT-TISSUE LESIONS

Over the last decade MR imaging has gained widespread acceptance as th e modality of choice for initial evaluation of a soft tissue mass. Alt hough MR imaging generally does not predict the histologic nature of a mass, significant data are accumulating on MR imaging features useful in the diagnosis of several benign conditions and a few malignant one s. Soft tissue masses that do not demonstrate tumor-specific features on MR imaging should be considered indeterminate and possibly malignan t and a biopsy should be obtained. This article reviews the literature and elaborates on soft tissue conditions where MR imaging features ca n suggest an accurate diagnosis of a soft tissue mass. The article als o reviews other important applications of MR imaging as well as recent developments in pulsing sequences and MR spectroscopy. The major seri es studying the diagnostic value of MR imaging in soft tissue masses i s discussed and compared.