Computerized tomography of retroperitoneal liposarcoma

: Besides the malignant fibrous histiocytoma, liposarcoma is one of the most common soft-tissue sarcomas seen in adults. They are most often localized in the lower extremity, followed by sarcomas in the retroperitoneal space which differ from the former in clinical appearance, epidemiology, and prognosis. The prognosis is especially dependent on tumor histology which is mainly classified into four subtypes. The aim of the study was to investigate whether there are specific CT-features for each histologic subgroup, by analyzing the examination of 20 patients. The highest percentage in fat and the biggest tumors were seen with well-differentiated liposarcomas (n = 4), whereas myxoid ones (n = 6) showed the sharpest margins. Round-cell (n = 2) and pleomorphic (n = 5) and pleomorphic (n = 5) types showed mainly soft-tissue attenuation and could not be differentiated, either from each other or from other soft-tissue tumors. A clear identification of the histologic subgroup does not seem to be possible.