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Imaging of Soft Tissue Tumors pp 3–18Cite as

Ultrasound of Soft Tissue Tumors

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1.4 Conclusion

Ultrasound is an important imaging technique in the initial assessment of a soft tissue swelling. In the majority of cases, it will establish that the swelling is benign in character (e.g., in wrist ganglions, meniscal cysts, or tenosynovitis) and obviate unnecessary further imaging workup.

In soft tissue tumors in the wrist, hand, fingers, and skin and in peripheral nerve tumors, ultrasound imaging is superior to MRI by virtue of its small field of view and excellent anatomical depiction. The drawback of ultrasound is its nonspecificity in the setting of a hypoechoic solid soft tissue mass. In institutions without a biopsy-dedicated CT or MRI suite, ultrasound is the most accessible and least time-consuming modality for imaging-guided aspiration and biopsy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Universitair Ziekenhuis Antwerpen, University of Antwerp, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650, Edegem, Belgium

    J. Gielen PhD

  2. Department of Radiology, Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, 676 North St. Clair Street South 800, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    R. Ceulemans MD

  3. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Section Musculoskeletal Radiology and Emergency Radiology, Henry Ford Hospital, 2799 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA

    M. van Holsbeeck MD

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Antwerp, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650, Edegem, Belgium

    Arthur M. De Schepper MD, PhD (Professor emeritus and Consultant-Professor), Filip Vanhoenacker MD, PhD (Consultant-Radiologist), Jan Gielen MD, PhD (Staff Radiologist) & Paul M. Parizel MD, PhD (Professor and Chairman) (Professor emeritus and Consultant-Professor),  (Consultant-Radiologist),  (Staff Radiologist) &  (Professor and Chairman)

  2. Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands

    Arthur M. De Schepper MD, PhD (Professor emeritus and Consultant-Professor) (Professor emeritus and Consultant-Professor)

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Gielen, J., Ceulemans, R., van Holsbeeck, M. (2006). Ultrasound of Soft Tissue Tumors. In: De Schepper, A.M., Vanhoenacker, F., Gielen, J., Parizel, P.M. (eds) Imaging of Soft Tissue Tumors. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-30792-3_1

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