Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Aug;91(4):471-478.
doi: 10.1080/17453674.2020.1763717. Epub 2020 May 20.

Can MRI differentiate between atypical cartilaginous tumors and high-grade chondrosarcoma? A systematic review

Claudia Deckers  1 , Maarten J Steyvers  2 , Gerjon Hannink  3 , H W Bart Schreuder  1 , Jacky W J de Rooy  2 , Ingrid C M Van Der Geest  1
Affiliations

Can MRI differentiate between atypical cartilaginous tumors and high-grade chondrosarcoma? A systematic review

Claudia Deckers et al. Acta Orthop. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

Background and purpose - Adequate staging of chondroid tumors at diagnosis is important as it determines both treatment and outcome. This systematic review provides an overview of MRI criteria used to differentiate between atypical cartilaginous tumors (ACT) and high-grade chondrosarcoma (HGCS).Patients and methods - For this systematic review PubMed and Embase were searched, from inception of the databases to July 12, 2018. All original articles describing MRI characteristics of pathologically proven primary central chondrosarcoma and ACT were included. A quality appraisal of the included papers was performed. Data on MRI characteristics and histological grade were extracted by 2 reviewers. Meta-analysis was performed if possible. The study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42018067959.Results - Our search identified 2,132 unique records, of which 14 studies were included. 239 ACT and 140 HGCS were identified. The quality assessment showed great variability in consensus criteria used for both pathologic and radiologic diagnosis. Due to substantial heterogeneity we refrained from pooling the results in a meta-analysis and reported non-statistical syntheses. Loss of entrapped fatty marrow, cortical breakthrough, and extraosseous soft tissue expansion appeared to be present more often in HGCS compared with ACT.Interpretation - This systematic review provides an overview of MRI characteristics used to differentiate between ACT and HGCS. Future studies are needed to develop and assess more reliable imaging methods and/or features to differentiate ACT from HGCS.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA flow diagram.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Forest plots of proportions of the reported presence of (a) entrapped fat, (b) bone marrow edema, (c) cortical breakthrough, (d) extra-osseous soft tissue expansion, and (e) ring and arc enhancement on conventional MRI in atypical cartilaginous tumors (ACT) and high-grade chondrosarcoma (HGCS).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aoki J, Sone S, Fujioka F, Terayama K, Ishii K, Karakida O, Imai S, Sakai F, Imai Y. MR of enchondroma and chondrosarcoma: rings and arcs of Gd-DTPA enhancement. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1991; 15(6): 1011–6. - PubMed
    1. Bindiganavile S, Han I, Yun J Y, Kim H-S. Long-term outcome of chondrosarcoma: a single institutional experience. Cancer Res Treat 2015; 47(4): 897. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brien E W, Mirra J M, Kerr R. Benign and malignant cartilage tumors of bone and joint: their anatomic and theoretical basis with an emphasis on radiology, pathology and clinical biology. Skeletal Radiol 1997; 26(6): 325–53. - PubMed
    1. Choi B-B, Jee W-H, Sunwoo H-J, Cho J-H, Kim J-Y, Chun K-A, Hong S-J, Chung H W, Sung M-S, Lee Y-S. MR differentiation of low-grade chondrosarcoma from enchondroma. Clin Imaging 2013; 37(3): 542–7. - PubMed
    1. Chung B M, Hong S H, Yoo H J, Choi J-Y, Chae H-D, Kim D H. Magnetic resonance imaging follow-up of chondroid tumors: regression vs. progression. Skeletal Radiol 2018; 47(6): 755–61. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms