Application of magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography as an adjunct to the surgical management of soft tissue sarcomas.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans of 53 evaluable patients with biopsy-proven soft tissue sarcomas were reviewed and compared with operative results to ascertain the accuracy for each imaging modality to predict resectability. Location of soft part sarcomas included: abdomino-pelvic (3), retroperitoneal (7), extremity (35), and other anatomic sites (8). MRI was observed to have greater accuracy than CT to preoperatively predict resectability (96.2% vs. 75.5%, respectively, p = 0.0034) following three-dimensional, multiplanar evaluation. Further, MRI was judged to have superior sensitivity to CT (95.6% vs. 73.3%, respectively, p = 0.006) and equivalent specificity (100% vs. 87.5%, respectively, p = 0.125). MRI represents a sophisticated diagnostic imaging technique to differentiate normal tissue from soft tissue sarcomas with superior contrast resolution in multiplanar imaging. MRI is considered to be the imaging modality of choice for these tumors with the advantage of not exposing the patient to ionizing irradiation or intravenous contrast agents to delineate contiguous structures.