Follow-up of musculoskeletal tumours2. Metastatic disease

Both the prognosis and the morbidity of a patient with a primary malignant musculoskeletal tumour have improved over the past 25 years due to the advent of adjuvant chemotherapy and limb-sparing surgery. This has important implications for the role of imaging at the time of initial diagnosis and during follow-up. This pictorial essay reviews the imaging and pitfalls in the interpretation of musculoskeletal sarcoma metastases using a variety of radiological techniques. The optimal imaging strategy will be stressed. Received: 29 January 1998; Revision received: 13 May 1998; Accepted: 14 May 1998