Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Neoplasia, Diagnostic procedure, MR, CT, Conventional radiography, Musculoskeletal bone
Authors:
A. Figueiredo1, L. Andrade2, R. Amaral3, C. B. Marques2, F. Caseiro Alves2; 1Viseu/PT, 2Coimbra/PT, 3Ponta Delgada/PT
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2013/C-1661
Background
Cartilage-forming tumors are frequently encountered by radiologists in their clinical practice.
They include a wide spectrum of entities ranging from benign lesions to highly aggressive sarcomatous tumors.
Within the benign chondrogenic lesions,
osteochondromas and enchondromas are extremely frequent while within the malignant lesions,
conventional chondrosarcoma represents one of the most common malignant primary bone tumors.
Cartilaginous tumors are usually identified by their plain film characteristics in conjunction with demographic and clinical information (like other primary bone neoplasms,
most of them have a certain predilection for the age and site of manifestation).
Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging allow a complementary characterization of the lesions.
Although the specific imaging features of these tumors usually suffice to establish their chondrogenic nature,
sometimes it is extremely difficult to determine whether they are benign or malignant because there is a gradual transition between benign and low-grade malignant lesions.