Characterization of musculoskeletal masses using dynamic Gd-DTPA enhanced spin-echo MRI

Early studies evaluating the utility of Gd-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) enhanced MR imaging for characterization of musculoskeletal masses have demonstrated inconsistent and often conflicting results. In this study a new method, dynamic Gd-DTPA enhanced rapid acquisition spin echo MR imaging, was implemented in the evaluation of 18 musculoskeletal lesions and the enhancement features of these lesions were analyzed. Lesions were evaluated before, during, and sequentially following bolus Gd-DTPA injection. Analysis of intensity, volume, timing of onset, progression, uniformity, and pattern of enhancement did not demonstrate significant differences between benign (n = 8) and malignant (n = 10) masses. Significant variations in enhancement were noted in different regions within these masses, which limits the utility of previous dynamic contrast enhanced methods that provide only a single imaging slice for analysis, and are therefore subject to sampling error. This pilot study indicates no advantage for using dynamic Gd-DTPA enhanced imaging for qualitative lesion characterization.