[Value and limitations of computerized tomography in the study of benign tumors of the bone]

In order to stress the role of CT in the evaluation of benign tumors of the bone the authors studied by means of a high-resolution CT scanner 74 patients that later underwent surgery (70 cases) and histological examination (all cases). CT findings were compared with the surgical and histological data. The results prove that the diagnostic contributions of CT are less important in the evaluation of benign than in malignant bone tumors. The major contributions of CT were:--the capability of detecting the presence of osteoid osteoma not found by means of conventional radiographic techniques;--differentiation between benign osteochondroma and peripheral chondrosarcoma by measurement of the peripheral cartilaginous cap: this criterion, on the other hand, does not seem to be always reliable and useful;--differential diagnosis of different types of cystic and fibrocystic diseases (simple and aneurysmal bone cyst, fibrous dysplasia);--evaluation of soft-tissue tumoral masses and of their extra-osseus extent in giant cell tumor and chondroblastoma; this allows us to establish the real extension of the tumor and to plan surgery more accurately.