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Solitary fibrous tumour of the spine: imaging features of a commonly misdiagnosed entity

  • Musculoskeletal
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Abstract

Objective

Solitary fibrous tumours (SFTs) occurring in the spine are rare. Herein, we review the clinical and imaging data of spinal SFT.

Methods

We retrospectively analysed eight cases of pathologically confirmed spinal SFT imaging and clinical data, pathological manifestations, surgical methods, and follow-up results.

Results

Five SFTs cases occurred in the cervical spine, two in the thoracic spine, and one in the lumbosacral spine. Five cases showed a dumbbell-shaped or lobulated soft tissue mass that grew across the intervertebral foramen, two cases showed an expansive intraosseous mass formation in the vertebral body and/or posterior element, and one case showed a long-spindle shaped intraspinal canal mass growing along the spinal canal. Seven caused local invasion and destruction of the vertebral body and posterior element. Benign SFTs displayed a good prognosis, whereas malignant SFTs were prone to recurrence and metastasis (3/4).

Conclusion

Spinal SFTs are difficult to characterise with imaging and required pathological and immunohistochemical investigation. Prolonged follow-up is recommended once a diagnosis of spinal SFTs has been established because of the unclear biology.

Key Points

• Spinal solitary fibrous tumours are extremely rare.

• SFTs should be showed the differential of masses developing though the foramen.

• Combing imaging with pathology and immunochemistry assesses the diagnosis and establish nature.

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Abbreviations

CT:

Computed tomography

CTV:

Clinical tumour volume

GTR:

Gross total resection

GTV:

Gross tumour volume

HPFs:

High-power fields

MR:

Magnetic resonance

PGTV:

Planning gross tumour volume

PTV:

Planning target volume

SFT:

Solitary fibrous tumour

T1WI:

T1-weighted imaging

T2WI:

T2-weighted imaging

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Funding

This study has received funding by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81701648) and Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation (7164309) and National Natural Science Foundation of China(81471634).

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Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ning Lang or Huishu Yuan.

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Guarantor

The scientific guarantor of this paper is professor Min-Ying Su. 164 Irvine Hall, Center for Functional Onco-Imaging, University of California, Irvine,CA 92697-5020. E-mail: msu@uci.edu

Conflict of interest

The authors of this manuscript declare no relationships with any companies, whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article.

Statistics and biometry

No complex statistical methods were necessary for this paper.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects (patients) in this study.

Ethical approval

Institutional Review Board approval was obtained.

Methodology

• Retrospective

• Diagnostic or prognostic study

• Performed at one institution

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Cite this article

Lang, N., Zhang, E., Xing, X. et al. Solitary fibrous tumour of the spine: imaging features of a commonly misdiagnosed entity. Eur Radiol 28, 3986–3995 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-018-5349-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-018-5349-7

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