The role of magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of soft tissue lesions.

Over the last decade MR imaging has gained widespread acceptance as the modality of choice for initial evaluation of a soft tissue mass. Although MR imaging generally does not predict the histologic nature of a mass, significant data are accumulating on MR imaging features useful in the diagnosis of several benign conditions and a few malignant ones. Soft tissue masses that do not demonstrate tumor-specific features on MR imaging should be considered indeterminate and possibly malignant and a biopsy should be obtained. This article reviews the literature and elaborates on soft tissue conditions where MR imaging features can suggest an accurate diagnosis of a soft tissue mass. The article also reviews other important applications of MR imaging as well as recent developments in pulsing sequences and MR spectroscopy. The major series studying the diagnostic value of MR imaging in soft tissue masses is discussed and compared.