The role of magnetic-resonance imaging in early diagnosis and in the assessment of metastatic involvement of the vertebral column under radiation therapy

The present study was undertaken to analyze the examination results for 165 patients with metastatic involvement of vertebral column who underwent conventional spondylography, multispiral computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (IMR) and for 76 patients who underwent osteoscitigraphy. Spondylography showed no vertebral metastases in 52 % of the patients, osteoscintigraphy confirmed vertebral metastases in 68 % of the patients. Multi-spiral computed tomography and MRI showed additional lesions detected no on roentgenograms. It is concluded from these results that MSCT and MRI are priority imaging techniques in diagnosis of vertebral metastases allowing the choice of adequate treatment and the assessment of its efficacy.