Radiotherapy in the treatment of vertebral hemangiomas. Are radiological imagings useful for evaluating the results of radiotherapy?

Eleven female and 3 male patients with vertebral hemangioma were treated with radiotherapy between 1975 and 1996. CT before irradiation showed thickened trabeculae as small punctuate areas of sclerosis in all patients. At MR imaging before irradiation, T2-weighted MR images showed areas of high intensity in all patients and MR images demonstrated lesion enhancement. However, no patient treated successfully with radiation demonstrated changes of the affected vertebra in the conventional radiographic films, CT scan or MR imagings, even 5 years after irradiation. Radiological imagings are indispensable for diagnosis of vertebral hemangiomas but do not appear to be useful for evaluating the effects of radiotherapy. (author)