title: Imaging findings of the spinal peripheral Ewing's sarcoma family of tumours.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present the neuroradiological and clinical characteristics of Ewing's sarcoma family of tumours (ESFTs) and to increase awareness of this neoplasm.
  
  
  METHODS
  The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features and clinical presentations of seven patients with pathologically documented ESFTs were retrospectively analysed. The tumour location, morphological features, signal intensity, contrast enhancement characteristics, involvement of the paraspinal soft tissues, and adjacent bony structures were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most of the ESFTs in young adults were well-circumscribed. The present study demonstrated that ESFTs often have a hypo- or iso-intense signal on T1-weighted imaging and an iso-intense signal on T2-weighted imaging. Spinal ESFTs tended to present homogeneous signal intensity and diffuse enhancement. ESFTs are more likely to occur in the thoracic spine and later to infiltrate into the paraspinal area or vertebral bone. A broad dural attachment is another common feature in the cases presented here.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ESFT is a rare neoplasm that can have significant overlap in imaging appearance compared with other spinal neoplasms. A well-demarcated extradural mass invading the paraspinal soft or vertebral bones, with iso-intense on T2 weighted imaging and homogeneous enhancement could facilitate the diagnosis of spinal ESFT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200041, China.
authors.forename: W-Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200041, China.
authors.forename: W-L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200041, China. Electronic address: gengdaoying2245@163.com.
authors.forename: D-Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200041, China. Electronic address: zhangjun8288@sina.cn.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Shanghai Cancer Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200041, China.
authors.forename: B-Y
authors.initials: BY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200041, China.
authors.forename: Y-X
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200041, China.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012512:Sarcoma, Ewing / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013131:Spine / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA