Semin Musculoskelet Radiol 2000; 4(4): 435-458
DOI: 10.1055/s-2000-13170
Copyright © 2000 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA. Tel.: +1(212) 584-4662

Imaging of Muscle Tumors

Paul Weatherall
  • Associate Professor of Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
31 December 2000 (online)

ABSTRACT

Tumors that involve skeletal muscle are numerous and varied, including a variety of benign and malignant neoplasms as well as other mass lesions. Confronted with a patient presenting with a mass in the muscle, a clinician has multiple choices for the initial study. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) frequently provides all of the information necessary to manage patients and so is a reasonable ``first-line'' imaging test. Although the MRI features of the various muscle masses are variable, general rules regarding characteristic features can provide restricted differential diagnosis. This article reviews these tumors and their appearances on MRI.

REFERENCES

  • 1 Reiser M, Rupp N, Heller H J. MR-tomography in the diagnosis of malignant soft-tumors.  Eur J Radiol . 1984;  4 288-293
  • 2 Weekes R G, McLeod R A, Reiman H M, Pritchard D J. CT of soft-tissue neoplasms.  Am J Roentgenol . 1985;  144 355-360
  • 3 Petasnick J P, Turner D A, Charters J R, Gitelis S, Zacharias C E. Soft-tissue masses of the locomotor system: comparison of MRI with CT.  Radiology . 1986;  160 125-133
  • 4 Chang A E, Matory Y L, Dwyer A J. Magnetic resonance imaging versus computed tomography in the evaluation of soft tissue tumors of the extremities.  Ann Surg . 1987;  205 340-348
  • 5 Sundaram M, Duffrin H, McGuire M H. Synchronous multicentric desmoid tumors (aggressive fibromatosis) of the extremities.  Skeletal Radiol . 1988;  17 16-19
  • 6 Demas B E, Heelan R T, Lane J. Soft-tissue sarcomas of the extremities: comparison of MRI and CT in determining the extent of disease.  Am JRoentgenol . 1988;  150 615-620
  • 7 Jordan J E, Donaldson S S, Enzmann D R. Cost effectiveness and outcome assessment of magnetic resonance imaging in diagnosing cord compression.  Cancer . 1995;  75(10) 2579-2586
  • 8 Hricak H, Powell C B, Yu K K. Invasive cervical carcinoma: role of MR imaging in pretreatment work-up-cost minimization and diagnostic efficacy analysis.  Radiology . 1996;  198(2) 403-409
  • 9 Trieshmann Jr W H, Mosure J C. The impact of magnetic resonance imaging of the knee on surgical decision making.  Arthroscopy . 1996;  12(5) 550-555
  • 10 Weinstabl R, Muellner T, Vecsei V, Kainberger F, Kramer M. Economic considerations for the diagnosis and therapy of meniscal lesions: can magnetic resonance imaging help reduce the expense?.  World J Surg . 1997;  21(4) 363-368
  • 11 Rubin S J, Marquardt J D, Gottlieb R H. Magnetic resonance imaging: a cost-effective alternative to bone scintigraphy in the evaluation of patients with suspected hip fractures.  Skeletal Radiol . 1998;  27(4) 199-204
  • 12 Berquist T H, Ehman R L, King B F. Value of MR imaging in differentiating benign from malignant soft-tissue masses: study of 95 lesions.  Am J Roentgenol . 1990;  155 1251-1255
  • 13 Moulton J S, Blebea J S, Dunco D M. MR imaging of soft-tissue masses: diagnostic efficacy and value of distinguishing between benign and malignant lesions.  Am J Roentgenol . 1995;  164(5) 1191-1199
  • 14 Lundorf E, Keller J O, Nielsen O S, Jensen O M, Christensen T. Can magnetic resonance imaging differentiate between benign and malignant conditions in patients with skeletal or soft tissue tumors?.  Ugeskr Laeger . 1996;  158(11) 1518-1520
  • 15 Soler R, Castro J M, Rodriguez E. Value of MR findings in predicting the nature of the soft tissue lesions: benign, malignant or undetermined lesion?.  Comput Med Imaging Graph . 1996;  20(3) 163-169
  • 16 Van Der Woude J H, Verstraete K L, Hogendoorn P C. Musculoskeletal tumors: does fast dynamic contrast-enhanced subtraction MR imaging contribute to the characterization.  Radiology . 1998;  208(3) 821-828
  • 17 Vanel D, Shapeero L G, DeBaere T. MR imaging in the follow-up of malignant and aggressive soft-tissue tumors: results of 511 examinations.  Radiology. 1994;  Jan;190(1) 263-268
  • 18 Hermann G, Abdelwahab I F, Miller T T. Tumor and tumor-like conditions of the soft tissue: magnetic resonance imaging features differentiating benign from malignant masses.  Br J Radiol . 1992;  65 14-20
  • 19 Jelinek J S, Kransdorf M J, Shmookler B M. Liposarcoma of the extremities: MR and CT findings in the histologic subtypes.  Radiology . 1993;  186 454-459
  • 20 Wetzel L H, Levine E. Soft-tissue tumors of the foot: value of MRI for specific diagnosis.  Am J Roentgenol . 1990;  155 1025-1030
  • 21 Binkovitz L A, Berquist T H, McLeod R A. Masses of the hand and wrist: detection and characterization with MR imaging.  Am J Roentgenol . 1990;  154 323-326
  • 22 Jelinek J S, Kransdorf M J, Shmookler B M, Aboulafia A A, Malawer M M. Giant cell tumor of the tendon sheath: MR finding in nine cases.  Am J Roentgenol . 1994;  162(4) 919-922
  • 23 Cohen E K, Kressel H Y, Frank T S. Hyaline cartilage-origin bone and soft tissue neoplasms: MR appearance and histologic correlation.  Radiology . 1988;  167 477-481
  • 24 Kransdorf M J, Jelinek J S, Moser R P. Magnetic resonance appearance of fibromatosis: a report of 14 cases and review of the literature.  Skeletal Radiol . 1990;  19 495-499
  • 25 Suh J S, Hwang G, Hahn S B. Soft tissue hemangiomas: MR manifestations in 23 patients.  Skeletal Radiol . 1994;  23(8) 621-625
  • 26 Ma L D, Frassica F J, McCarthy E F, Bluemke D A, Zerhouni E A. Benign and malignant musculoskeletal masses: MR imaging differentiation with rim-to-center differential enhancement ratios.  Radiology . 1997;  202 739-744
  • 27 Llauger J, Palmer J, Monill J M. MR imaging of benign soft-tissue masses of the foot and ankle.  Radiographics . 1998;  18(6) 1481-1498
  • 28 Capelastegui A, Astigarraga E, Fernandez-Canton G. Masses and pseudomasses of the hand and wrist: MR findings in 134 cases.  Skeletal Radiol . 1999;  28(9) 498-507
  • 29 Yiu-Chiu V S, Chiu L C. Complementary values of ultra- sound and computed tomography in the evaluation of musculoskeletal masses.  Radiographics . 1983;  3 46-82
  • 30 Hermann G, Yeh H C, Schwartz I. Computed tomography of soft-tissue lesions of the extremities, pelvic and shoulder girdles: monographic and pathological correlations.  Clin Radiol . 1984;  35 193-202
  • 31 Bernardino M E, Jing B-S, Thomas J L, Lindell Jr M M, Zornoza J. The extremity soft-tissue lesion: a comparative study of ultrasound, computed tomography, and xeroradiography.  Radiology . 1981;  139 53-59
  • 32 Itoh K. A comparative study between magnetic resonance imaging and histological findings of bone and soft tissue tumors.  Nippon Seikeigeka Gakkai Zasshi . 1995;  69(10) 899-914
  • 33 Panicek D M, Gatsonis C, Rosenthal D I. CT and MR imaging in the local staging of primary malignant musculoskeletal neoplasms: report of the radiology diagnostic oncology group.  Radiology . 1997;  202(1) 237-246
  • 34 Chew F S, Hudson T M, Enneking W F. Radionuclide imaging of soft tissue neoplasms.  Semin Nucl Med . 1981;  11 266-276
  • 35 McAfee J G, Samin A. In-111 labeled leukocytes- a review of problems in image interpretation.  Radiology . 1985;  155 222-229
  • 36 Kairemo K JA, Wiklund T A, Liewendahl K. Imaging of soft-tissue sarcomas with indium-111-labeled monoclonal antimyosin fab fragments.  J Nucl Med . 1990;  31 23-31
  • 37 Weatherall P T, Maale G E. Neoplasms and mass lesions involving muscle. Muscle Imaging in Health and Disease 1996, Chap. 31, pp 385-412
  • 38 Enneking W F, Maale G E. The effect of the tumoral contamination of wounds.  Cancer . 1988;  62 1251-1256
  • 39 Weatherall P T. Benign and malignant masses MR imaging differentiation.  MRI Clinics of North America. 1995;  3(4) 793-799/Appendix
  • 40 Kransdorf M J, Murphey M D. The use of gadolinium in the MR evaluation of soft tissue tumors.  Seminars Ultrasound CT MRI . 1997;  18(4) 251-268
  • 41 Mirowitz S A, Totty W G, Lee J KT. Characterization of musculoskeletal masses using dynamic Gd-DTPA enhanced spin-echo MRI.  J Comput Assist Tomogr . 1992;  16 120-125
  • 42 Fletcher B D, Fhanna S L. Musculoskeletal neoplasms: dynamic Gd-DTPT-enhanced MRI [letter].  Radiology . 1989;  171 287
  • 43 Hanna S L, Fletcher B D, Parham D M. Muscle edema in musculoskeletal tumors: MR imaging characteristics and clinical significance.  J Magn Reson Imaging . 1991;  1 441-449
  • 44 Herrlin K, Ling L B, Pettersson H. Gadolinium-DTPA enhancement of soft tissue tumors in magnetic resonance imaging.  Acta Radiol . 1990;  31 233
  • 45 Kransdorf M J. Soft-tissue masses: a systematic approach to radiologic evaluation. RSNA Categorical Course in Diagnostic Radiology: Body MR 1999: 189-200
  • 46 Beltran J, Simon D C, Katz W. Increased MR signal intensity in skeletal muscle adjacent to malignant tumors: pathologic correlation and clinical relevance.  Radiology . 1987;  162 251-255
  • 47 Kransdorf M J, Jelinek J, Moser R. Soft-tissue masses: Diagnosis using MR imaging.  Am J Roentgenol . 1989;  153 541-547
  • 48 Jones B C, Sundaram M, Kransdorf M J. Synovial sarcoma: MR imaging findings in 34 patients.  Am J Roentgenol . 1993;  161(4) 827-830
  • 49 DeSchepper A, Ramon F, Degryse H. Statistical analysis of MRI parameters predicting malignancy in 141 soft tissue masses.  ROFO . 1992;  156 587-591
  • 50 Sundaram M, Baran G, Merenda G. Myxoid liposarcoma: magnetic resonance imaging appearances with clinical and histological correlation.  Skeletal Radiol . 1990;  19 359-362
  • 51 Mahajan H, Kim E E, Wallace S. Magnetic resonance imaging of malignant fibrous histiocytoma.  Magn Res Imag . 1989;  7 283-288
  • 52 Crim J R, Seeger L L, Yao L. Diagnosis of soft-tissue masses with MR imaging: can benign masses be differentiated from malignant ones?.  Radiology . 1992;  185 581-586
  • 53 Morton M J, Berquist T H, McLeod R A. MR imaging of synovial sarcoma.  AJR . 1991;  156 337-340
  • 54 London J, Kim E E, Wallace S. MR imaging of liposarcomas: correlation of MR features and histology.  J Comp Assist Tomogr . 1989;  13 832-835
  • 55 Ma L D, Frassica F J, Scott Jr W W, Fishman E K, Zerbouni E A. Differentiation of benign and malignant musculoskeletal tumors: potential pitfalls with MR imaging.  Radiographics . 1995;  15(2) 349-366
  • 56 Weatherall P T, Maale G E, Sherry C S. High T1-weighted signal intensity in MR imaging of soft tissue sarcomas.  J Magn Reson Imaging . 1991;  1(abstract) 194
  • 57 Lee V S, Martinez S, Coleman R E. Primary muscle lymphoma: clinical and imaging findings.  Radiology . 1997;  203(1) 237-244
  • 58 Weatherall P T. Benign and malignant masses MR imaging differentiation.  MRI Clinics of North America . 1995;  3(4) 674-677
  • 59 Kransdorf M J. Malignant soft-tissue tumors in a large referral population: distribution of specific diagnoses by age, sex, and location.  Am J Roentgenol . 1995;  164 129-134
  • 60 Panicek D M, Casper E S, Brennan M F, Hajdu S I, Heelan R T. Hemorrhage simulating tumor growth in malignant fibrous histiocytoma at MRI.  Radiology . 1991;  181 398-400
  • 61 Soulie D, Boyer B, Lescop J, Pujol A, Le Friant G, Cordoliani Y S. [Myxoid liposarcoma.  MRI imaging]. J Radiol . 1995;  76(1) 29-36
  • 62 Enzinger F M, Weiss S W. Rhabdomyoma. In: Soft Tissue Tumors, 2nd ed. St Louis: C.V. Mosby 1988: 363-366
  • 63 Madewell J E, Sweet D E. Tumors and tumor-like lesions in or about joints. In: Resnick D, Niwayama G., eds. Diagnosis of Bone and Joint Disorders, 2nd ed Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders 1988: 3891-3900
  • 64 Enzinger F M, Weiss S W. Rhabdomyosarcoma. In: Soft Tissue Tumors, 2nd ed. St Louis: C.V. Mosby 1988: 448-488
  • 65 Biondetti P R, Ehman R L. Soft-tissue sarcomas: use of textural patterns in skeletal muscle as a diagnostic feature in postoperative MR imaging.  Radiology . 1992;  183(3) 845-848
  • 66 Miller T T, Potter H G, McCormack Jr R R. Benign soft tissue masses of the wrist and hand: MRI appearances.  Skeletal Radiol . 1994;  23(5) 327-332
  • 67 Kransdorf M J. Benign soft-tissue tumors in a large referral population: distribution of specific diagnoses by age, sex, and location.  Am J Roentgenol . 1995;  164 395-402
  • 68 Enzinger F M, Weiss S W. Rhabdomyoma. In: Soft Tissue Tumors, 2nd ed. St Louis: C.V. Mosby 1988: 433-447
  • 69 Arkun R, Memis A, Akalin T, Ustun E E, Sabah D, Kandiloglu G. Liposarcoma of soft tissue: MRI findings with pathologic correlation.  Skeletal Radiol . 1997;  26(3) 167-172
  • 70 Enzinger F M, Weiss S W. Rhabdomyoma. In: Soft Tissue Tumors, 2nd ed. St Louis: C.V. Mosby 1988: 349-372
  • 71 Weatherall P T. Benign and malignant masses MR imaging differentiation.  MRI Clin North Am . 1995;  3(4) 669
  • 72 Bush C H, Spanier S S, Gillespy III T. Imaging of atypical lipomas of the extremities: report of three cases.  Skeletal Radiol . 1988;  17 472-475
  • 73 Enzinger F M, Weiss S W. Benign lipomatous tumors. In: Soft Tissue Tumors, 2nd ed. St. Louis: C.V. Mosby; 1988;304-317, 351, 363-366
  • 74 Soderlund V, Goranson H, Bauer H C. MR imaging of benign peripheral nerve sheath tumors.  Acta Radiol . 1994;  35(3) 282-286
  • 75 Weatherall P T, Erdman W A, Rollins N A. The STIR technique in musculoskeletal MRI.  SMRM Book of Abstracts . 1988;  1 1878
  • 76 Burk Jr L D, Brunberg J A, Kanal E, Latchaw R E, Wolf G L. Spinal and paraspinal neurofibromatosis surface coil MRI at 1.5 T1.  Radiology . 1987;  162 797-801
  • 77 Greenspan A, McGahan J P, Vogelsang P. Imaging strategies in the evaluation of soft-tissue hemangiomas of the extremities: correlation of the findings of plain radiography, angiography, CT, MRI, and ultrasonography in 12 histologically proven cases.  Skeletal Radiol . 1992;  21 11-18
  • 78 Levine F, Wetzel L H, Neff J F. MR imaging and CT of extrahepatic cavernous hemangiomas.  Am J Roentgenol . 1986;  147 1299-1304
  • 79 Kaplan P A, Williams S M. Mucocutaneous and peripheral soft-tissue hemangiomas: MRI.  Radiology . 1987;  163 163-166
  • 80 Jenner G, Soderlund V, Bauer H F, Brosijo O. MR imaging of skeletal muscle hemangiomas. A report of 16 cases.  Acta Radiol . 1996;  37(2) 140-144
  • 81 Suh J-S, Abenoza P, Galloway H R. Peripheral (extracranial) nerve tumors: correlation of MR imaging and histologic findings.  Radiology . 1992;  183 341-346
  • 82 Cohen J M, Weinreb J C, Redman H C. Arteriovenous malformations of the extremities: MR imaging.  Radiology . 1986;  158 475-479
  • 83 Hawnaur J M, Jenkins J PR, Isherwood I. Magnetic resonance imaging of musculoaponeurotic fibromatosis.  Skeletal Radiol . 1990;  19 509-514
  • 84 Quinn S F, Erickson S J, Dee P M. MR imaging in fibromatosis: results in 26 patients with pathologic correlation.  AJR . 1991;  156 539-542
  • 85 Maale G E, Schwarz D, Weatherall P T. Results of treatment for extra-abdominal aggressive fibromatosis utilizing megavoltage radiation for local control. Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Limb Salvage, Singapore, August 1993
  • 86 Hudson T M, Vandergriend R A, Springfield D S. Aggressive fibromatosis: evaluation by computed tomography and angiography.  Radiology . 1984;  150 495-501
  • 87 Meyer C A, Kransdorf M J, Jelinek J S, Moser Jr P R. MR and CT appearance of nodular fasciitis.  J Comput Asst Tomogr . 1991;  15(2) 276-279
  • 88 Gordon B A, Martinez S, Collins A J. Pyomyositis: characteristics at CT and MR imaging.  Radiology . 1991;  197(1) 279-286
  • 89 Simon M A, Biermann J S. Biopsy of bone and soft-tissue lesions.  J Bone Joint Surgery . 1993;  75A(4) 616-621
  • 90 Marcantonio D R, Weatherall P T, Berrey Jr H B. Practical considerations in the imaging of soft tissue tumors.  Orthop Clin North Am . 1998;  29(1) 1-17
  • 91 Fleckenstein J L, Weatherall P T, Bertocci L A. Locomotor system assessment by muscle magnetic resonance imaging.  Magn Reson Q . 1991;  7 79-103
  • 92 Schweitzer M E, Greenway G, Resnick D, Haghighi P, Snoots W E. Osteoma of soft parts.  Skeletal Radiol . 1992;  21 177-180
  • 93 Shirkhoda A, Armin A R, Bis K G. MR imaging of myositis ossificans: variable patterns at different stages.  J Magn Reson Imaging . 1995;  5(3) 287-292
    >