RESEARCH ARTICLE


Preoperative Ultrasonographic Evaluation for Malignancy of Soft-Tissue Sarcoma: A Retrospective Study



Takeshi Morii1, *, Tomonori Kishino2, Naoko Shimamori2, Mitsue Motohashi2, Hiroaki Ohnishi2, Keita Honya3, Takayuki Aoyagi1, Takashi Tajima1, Shoichi Ichimura1
1 Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kyorin University, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka, Tokyo181-8611, Japan
2 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kyorin University, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka, Tokyo181-8611, Japan
3 Department of Medical Radiological Technology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Kyorin University, 5-4-1 Shimorenjaku, Mitaka, Tokyo181-8612, Japan

Article Information


Identifiers and Pagination:

Year: 2018
Volume: 12
First Page: 75
Last Page: 83
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-12-75
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001812010075

Article History:

Received Date: 23/12/2017
Revision Received Date: 14/02/2018
Acceptance Date: 23/02/2018
Electronic publication date: 16/03/2018
Collection year: 2018

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Creative Commons License
© 2018 Morii et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kyorin University, Takeshi Morii, 6-20-2 Shinkawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 161-8611, Japan; Tel: +81-422-47-5511; E-mail: t-morii@gb3.so-net.ne.jp


Abstract

Background:

Ultrasonography is useful for distinguishing between benign and malignant soft-tissue tumors. However, no study has focused on its usefulness in the differential diagnosis between low-grade and high-grade soft-tissue sarcomas. We conducted a retrospective study to determine the usefulness of the parameters of ultrasonograph and to develop a practical scoring system for distinguishing between high-grade and low-grade sarcomas.

Methods:

Twenty-two cases of low-grade and 43 cases of high-grade malignant soft-tissue sarcoma were enrolled. Ultrasonography parameters including the longest diameter, depth of the tumor, echogenicity, tumor margin, and vascularity defined according to Giovagnorio’s criteria were analyzed as factors to distinguish between the two types of sarcoma. Significant factors were entered into a multivariate model to define the scores for distinction according to the odds ratio. The usefulness of the score was analyzed via receiver operating characteristic analyses.

Results:

In univariate analysis, tumor margin, echogenicity, and vascularity were significantly different between low- and high-grade sarcomas. In the multivariate regression model, the odds ratio for high-grade vs. low-grade sarcoma was 8.8 for tumor margin, 69 for echogenicity, and 8.3 for vascularity. Scores for the risk factors were defined as follows: 1, ill-defined margin; 2, hypoechoic echogenicity; and 1, type IV in Giovagnorio’s criteria. The sum of each score was confirmed by receiver operating characteristic analysis. The area under the curve was 0.95, with a cut-off score of 3, indicating that the scoring system was useful.

Conclusion:

The ultrasonography parameters of tumor margin, echogenicity, and vascularity are useful for distinguishing between low- and high-grade sarcomas.

Keywords: Soft tissue tumor, Diagnosis, Ultrasonography, High-grade sarcoma, Low-grade sarcoma, Malignancy.