Magnetic resonance grid analysis of soft tissue lesions.

ABSTRACT

Soft tissue tumors of seven patients were imaged with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) prior to operative resection. In four cases, gross surgical specimen biopsy sites were broadly selected from areas of diverse signal intensity. A subsequently developed "grid analysis" technique, used in three additional patients, better localized differing zonal intensities within individual gross specimens. Further investigation of this technique is warranted, since MR images, when analyzed by means of a detailed grid technique, appear to enhance histologic diagnostic accuracy. Examination of larger segments of inhomogeneous soft tissue tumors is facilitated, while pathologists' sampling time is diminished.