title: Nodular fasciitis: MRI appearance and literature review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the MRI features of nodular fasciitis and to review the clinical, MRI and histologic aspects of the tumor.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three patients with biopsy-proven nodular fasciitis were selected for a retrospective study. A literature review was also carried out.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All the lesions appeared slightly hyperintense to skeletal muscle on T1-weighted images, and hyperintense on T2-weighted images with fat saturation [either frequency saturation or Short TI Inversion Recovery (STIR) sequences]. Two enhanced homogeneously after intravenous gadolinium, whereas the third showed heterogeneous enhancement with a nonenhancing area. Despite the difference in enhancing patterns, the histologic appearances of these lesions were similar. Our study shows that the MRI appearance of nodular fasciitis may not be related to the location of lesion. It is thought that the age of nodular fasciitis may reflect its gross morphology, and it is possible that the MRI and histologic appearances could correlate with the age of the lesion, but it would require a larger series to evaluate this concept.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 30 Gascoigne Road, Hong Kong. johleung@netvigator.com
authors.forename: L Y J
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Shu
authors.forename: A C L
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: C H S
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005208:Fasciitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*