Imaging of the malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumour with emphasis οn ultrasonography: correlation with MRI.

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumours affect 0.001 % of the population. The epithelioid subtype accounts for only 5 % of them. We herein present a patient with a palpable mass on the left calf, which was investigated by ultrasonography, ultrasonographically guided fine-needle biopsy and MRI. Ultrasonography estimated the size of the tumour and evaluated its echotexture. Doppler technique detected characteristic corkscrew-type blood vessel entering in the upper pole of the mass. T1-weighted, fat-suppression and gadolinium-enhanced MRI sequences confirmed ultrasonographic findings. In conclusion, although final diagnosis was established by biopsy, ultrasonography and MRI proved complementary in the characterization of the lesion and planning of surgery.