Surgical considerations in a diagnostic imaging evaluation of musculoskeletal masses.

The management of patients with soft-tissue masses necessitates careful assessment and appropriate use of investigational tools to obtain a diagnosis. The interaction among surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists allows adequate staging of soft-tissue tumors and better planning of the definitive treatment. The ability of MR imaging to maximize contrast between normal and tumor tissues in any desired plane makes it usually the best cross-sectional imaging modality in the preoperative staging of soft-tissue masses.