Keywords:
Tissue characterisation, Education and training, Education, Diagnostic procedure, Ultrasound, MR, Soft tissues / Skin, Musculoskeletal soft tissue
Authors:
N. Sivarasan, C. S. W. Tang, A. Zavareh; London/UK
DOI:
10.1594/essr2017/P-0172
Purpose
Lipomas are the most commonly encountered soft tissue lesions on general ultrasound lists. The main differential for a lipoma is a low-grade liposarcoma,
which can be challenging to distinguish on ultrasound.
Currently there is no national guidance on when to request further imaging for suspicious lipomas.
The American College of Radiology (ACR) suggest that ultrasound is ‘usually appropriate’ for clinically suspected ‘internally simple and well-encapsulated lesions’,
however MRI is required for lipomas demonstrating suspicious features.
These features include heterogeneity,
large size (>5cm),
vascularity,
ill-defined margins and intramuscular location.
Our aim was to review our departmental lipoma ultrasounds to identify whether suspicious features were being appropriately investigated with MRI.