Pitfalls in the use of computed tomography for musculoskeletal tumors in children.

We retrospectively reviewed the use of computed tomography scans for the preoperative evaluation of musculoskeletal neoplasms in nineteen children. Of twenty-five scans, there was accurate correlation with the surgical findings in thirteen patients (fourteen scans), while overestimation or underestimation of the extent of soft-tissue disease was evident in nine patients (eleven scans). We concluded that computed tomography is a useful adjunct to the more conventional means of preoperative assessment but that overdependence on this one method of evaluation should be avoided.