MRI with or without contrast of the thigh

[Annika]

Hello everyone,

Just fishing around for some feedback.

Would an MRI of the thigh WITHOUT contrast show an ASPS tumor? or would it merely present itself as normal tissue? Has anyone had an MRI without contrast and had their tumors shown up?

I have a lump in my upper left thigh right above my knee, causes no issue what so ever and for all I know it could have been there forever, and had a non contrast MRI 2 weeks ago, The findings were normal and nothing looked off. Now I am worried that if it is a tumor it was missed due to not having contrast, it could just as well be fatty tissue but, would that not have been mentioned in the final report?

Annika

[Olga]

As I understand, MRI is perfectly capable in showing the soft tissue tumor without contrast, it is the best type of scan for that and any pathological tumors would stand out in a very distinct way so if there are no abnormal findings, it is a good news. I know that in some cases it is hard to distinguish between the lipoma and liposarcoma - depends on the fat content % - but it is easy to distinguish between ASPS and lipoma since ASPS tumors do not content any fat. I would call the radiology and ask to speak to a radiologist why there is no mentioning of that particular area of concern - to confirm that they see a "fat signal" there.