Gadolinium enhancement of soft-tissue masses

This paper reports on a study performed to evaluate the safety and usefulness of Gd-DTPA in the MR evaluation of patients presenting with soft-tissue masses without osseous involvement. Twenty-eight patients were evaluated. Pathologic diagnosis revealed nine malignant and 19 benign lesions. Contrast material enhancement was detected in 75% of the lesions. Enhancement patterns were not useful in separating benign from malignant lesions, but edema showed contrast enhancement. Edema was not present in uncomplicated malignant lesions. Though T2-weighted images were superior to unenhanced T1-weighted images in terms of lesion definition and contrast, enhanced images were equally beneficial