Radiology, Vol 148, 107-112, Copyright © 1983 by Radiological Society of North America
Recurrent neuroblastoma: the role of CT and alternative imaging tests
DD Stark, RC Brasch, AA Moss, AA deLorimier, AR Albin, DA London and CA Gooding
One hundred twelve CT scans of 52 patients who were receiving treatment for
neuroblastoma were reviewed for accuracy, and findings were correlated with
data obtained from other imaging tests, physical examinations, laboratory
tests, biopsies, surgery, and long-term clinical follow-up. CT was the most
sensitive imaging test for tumor recurrence (85% detection rate), and it
was also the most versatile in the ability to define recurrent disease in
the retroperitoneum, liver, cranium, mediastinum, lymph nodes, and
skeleton. All 30 tumor recurrences were detected by the combination of CT,
bone-marrow biopsy, and selected spot radiographs at the sites of pain. CT
was accurate and clinically useful both for assessing tumor response to
therapy and for predicting findings at "second look" surgery (accuracy,
94%). CT is relatively cost effective by substituting for a more expensive
but less accurate combination of competitive imaging studies.
