Diagnostic examination methods for osteosarcoma

Pain or obvious swelling in the limbs is the most common symptom of osteosarcoma. But once these symptoms appear, can it be diagnosed as osteosarcoma? In fact, the answer is wrong. To confirm osteosarcoma, you must first seek medical treatment and examination in time. So how to diagnose osteosarcoma? Let's learn about the examination and diagnosis methods of osteosarcoma.

The term osteosarcoma represents a group of lesions with different morphological characteristics, ranging from slow-growing, non-metastatic tumors to sarcomas that grow aggressively and metastasize. The clinical manifestations of chondrosarcoma lesions are nonspecific. Most of them present with slowly developing pain. Sometimes a mass can be felt. When the tumor involves the nerve roots, cauda equina, or spinal cord, it can cause corresponding neurological damage.

From a diagnostic perspective, chondrosarcomas can be divided into two categories: low-grade and medium-grade tumors and high-grade tumors. How is chondrosarcoma diagnosed? Low-grade or borderline chondrosarcomas are very similar to benign enchondromas, and their diagnosis cannot be based solely on pathological examinations, but requires the support of clinical evidence. However, grade 2 and grade 3 chondrosarcomas can be diagnosed independently by microscopy.

Discontinuous calcified plaques on X-rays are characteristic imaging signs of cartilage lesions. Cartilage lesions generally appear as translucent areas with small spots or ring-shaped opaque areas distributed relatively evenly. Different lesions have different degrees of calcification. If the lesion is mainly osteolytic, it is difficult to diagnose this chondrosarcoma lesion based on plain films alone.

In another extreme case, the lesion is severely calcified and appears as a dense opaque area, which is difficult to distinguish from osteoblastic lesions. MRI and CT can help clarify the extent of chondrosarcoma invasion in bone and soft tissue. In addition, chondrosarcoma appears as a low signal on MRI T1-weighted images and a high signal on T2-weighted images. Although it lacks specificity for diagnosing chondrosarcoma, this MRI manifestation can help determine the nature of the cartilaginous lesions for lesions that appear as punctate calcifications on plain films. CT can help detect punctate calcifications that cannot be found on plain films and MRI.

The above are the examination and diagnosis methods for osteosarcoma. Only when we understand the examination and diagnosis methods for osteosarcoma can we help people to diagnose and confirm the disease in time and take treatment measures in time when they are sick, so as to avoid missing the best time for treatment and bringing too much harm to osteosarcoma patients. It is crucial to stay away from osteosarcoma as early as possible.