Bone Reporting and Data System (Bone-RADS) and Other Proposed Practice Guidelines for Reporting Bone Tumors

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Oncology
• Musculoskeletal Imaging

Background:

• Standardized reporting systems are crucial for accurate bone tumor diagnosis and management.
• Existing systems vary in their application and focus, leading to potential inconsistencies.
• Radiologists require clear guidelines for evaluating bone lesions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and compare four major bone tumor radiology reporting systems: Bone-RADS, OT-RADS, BTI-RADS, and REST.
• To summarize the advantages and disadvantages of each system.
• To provide insights into the current landscape of bone tumor reporting guidelines.

Main Methods:

• A selective PubMed literature search was conducted.
• Focus was placed on current literature regarding bone tumor reporting systems and musculoskeletal radiology lexicon.
• No specific time frame was applied to the search.

Main Results:

• Four primary bone tumor reporting systems have been proposed: Bone-RADS, OT-RADS, BTI-RADS, and REST.
• Bone-RADS and OT-RADS assist in characterizing and managing bone lesions on CT and MRI.
• OT-RADS is applicable to MRI, while REST can be used for radiography.

Conclusions:

• Radiologists play a key role in detecting and characterizing bone tumors.
• Several bone tumor reporting systems exist, each with unique strengths and weaknesses.
• These systems aim to improve lesion characterization and management, particularly for incidentally detected bone lesions.