Elastofibroma Dorsi: CT, MRI, and Pathologic Findings

Abstract

We report two cases of elastofibroma dorsi and discuss the CT and MR findings and histopathology of these tumors. Increased awareness of the characteristic MR patterns should lead to reduced misdiagnosis of such lesions as malignant and prevent unnecessary wide excision.

Elastofibroma dorsi: histologic and echographic considerations

“…The color and power Doppler showed normal vascularization, as for the normal surrounding muscle. The similarity of the mass to the morphology of the muscular tissue was also confirmed by computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as reported in the literature 12 …”

Elastofibroma dorsi: Diagnosis and treatment

“…In the most typical pattern, streaks of fatty tissue alternate with strands of fibrous tissue to form straight or curved lines that are roughly parallel to the chest wall. 1,10,13 All of the current patients revealed these typical patterns, and a presumptive diagnosis of elastofibroma dorsi was thus obtained. If the features are atypical, a number of other diagnoses must be ruled out, including lipoma, differentiated liposarcoma, and hemangioma.…”

Elastofibroma dorsi: management, outcome and review of the literature

“…All the lesions had the characteristic appearances previously described in the literature, [5][6][7] namely, a poorly circumscribed, unencapsulated mass with attenuation similar to that of skeletal muscle on both T1 and T2 sequences, containing linear streaks of tissue with the signal attenuation of fat ( Fig. 1).…”

“…26 Elastofibroma has been reported to have a higher prevalence in manual labourers. 11,19 It has been reported in the foot of an intensive dancer 6 and in the pitching arm of a baseball pitcher, 27 reinforcing the concept that the condition arises due to some degree of attrition. In addition, osteoarthritis of the shoulder has been cited as a potential cause.…”

“…A poorly-defined, heterogenous soft-tissue mass, with tissue attenuation similar to that of skeletal muscle interlaced with strands of fat is seen. [5][6][7] It has been reported that a diagnosis can be made on the radiological appearance alone. 35 The radiological differential diagnoses are reported to include fibromatosis (in predominantly fibrous lesions) and atypical lipoma or liposarcoma in which lesions have a considerable fat content but in the typical subscapular location, especially if bilateral, accurate diagnosis can be obtained without the need for biopsy.…”