OBJECTIVETo investigate the imaging features, clinical manifestations and pathological characteristics of solitary fibrous tumors (SFT).

METHODSThe clinicopathological manifestations and medical imaging findings were analyzed retrospectively in 27 patients with surgically confirmed SFT.

RESULTSThe SFTs originated from different parts of the body, including 18 in the chest, 4 in the abdomen, 1 in the lumboscral area, 3 in the pelvis, and 1 in the left shoulder. Twenty-three cases were found by CT scan, among which there were 16 benign diseases, presented with well-defined round or elliptic margins, with homogeneous attenuation and clearly surrounding; 6 malignant cases with unclear demarcations, invasive surrounding, heterogeneous attenuation due to calcification and/or irregular necrosis, and 1 junctional case with well-defined margins, which was enlarged during follow-up. There were 4 SFTs scanned by MRI with clear margin and homogeneous or heterogeneous signal intensity. All of the 4 cases were isointense or hyperintense to muscle on T1-weighted images, and were hyperintense on the T2-weighted images. All tumors showed heterogeneously intense enhancement with geographic pattern. Immunohistochemical staining showed that CD34-positive was 81.5%, vimentin (100.0%), CD99 (100.0%) and bcl-2 (96.3%), as well as negative CK (100.0%) and S-100 (96.3%).

CONCLUSIONThe location of SFT is varying. Though its clinical manifestations vary, the diagnosis is depended on pathology and immunohistochemistry. There are certain specific features related to SFTs on CT or MRI. These imaging techniques may serve to provide helpful information as to the location and vicinal anatomic structure of the tumor, which is of substantial importance for planning surgery.