title: Solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura: An analysis of forty patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the clinical characteristics, treatment and prognosis of patients with solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura (SFTP) in order to improve the diagnostic accuracy and treatment of SFTP.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis of clinical and imaging features, serum biochemical changes, pathological characteristics and treatment follow-up results was conducted for 40 SFTP patients from January 1998 to March 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A chest CT diagnosis was conducted for 63.6% of the patients; the unenhanced and contrast-enhanced CT findings were significantly different among the cohort (P<0.01). Patients lacking a uniform MRI internal signal comprised 88.9% of the group, 66.7% showed T1 isointensity, 33.3% demonstrated T1 hypointensity, 44.4% showed T2 hypointensity and 44.4% had slight hypointensity. The follow-up time was between 2 and 116.9 months, with an average of 35 months; postoperative adjuvant therapy was not administered. Currently, all the studied patients are alive, with no metastasis or recurrence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chest CT is a valuable tool for diagnosis and surgical decisions, and the efficacy of MRI examination is comparable to chest CT. The majority of cases originated in the visceral pleural; for these, surgical resection is an effective treatment, and the prognosis is generally favorable.
authors: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors: Xiangyang
authors: X
authors: Chu
authors: Lianbin
authors: L
authors: Zhang
authors: Zhiqiang
authors: Z
authors: Xue
authors: Zhipeng
authors: Z
authors: Ren
authors: Yu-E
authors: YE
authors: Sun
authors: Maoqiang
authors: M
authors: Wang
authors: Mei
authors: M
authors: Liu