MRI of right calf,shows 12.5 cm mass. Shows suspicion of neoplasm. What could this be?
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Had mri of right calf,shows 12.5 cm mass which 6 months ago had mri they told me there's no signs of cancer...now shows suspicion of neoplasm OR inflammatory mass...what could this be? No injury to legal far as I can remember. It's been there almost two years now..now getting numbness on top of right foot and great toe pa s t four days,stArted on lyrica.
Posted Tue, 16 Jul 2013
in Bones, Muscles and Joints
Answered by Dr. Anjana Rao Kavoor 3 hours later
Hi XXXXX,
Thank you for writing in to Health Care Magic.
From your description of the lesion, it seems like there is a soft tissue mass in the right calf region for almost last two years and presently measures 12.5 cms.
A soft tissue mass in the calf region can contain originate from either fibrous tissue (fibroma), muscular tissue (myoma), fat tissue (lipoma), vascular tissue (hemangioma), nerve tissue (neuroma or schwannoma) or a mix of some elements. You also have to keep in mind the adjacent bone, nerves and vessels. Most of these neoplasms can be benign to start with and appear well defined. If there is irregularity in appearance and local infiltration, then malignancy must be ruled out Then the tumors become sarcomas (fibrosarcoma, liposarcoma, soft tissue sarcoma).
It could be that in the MRI done 6 months ago, there was a well defined swelling in the region which made the doctor think that there was no cancer. Present features may show infiltration and local spread and hence the suspicion of cancer.
The fact that you are now experiencing numbness may be because of local infiltration of the surrounding structures. Lyrica is pregabalin and useful for neuropathy pain. The main problem over here lies in diagnosing the mass pathologically.
A FNAC/ Biopsy (core or incision) is a must in tissue diagnosis. This will be interpretated by the pathologist for the types of cells found in the mass.
An inflammatory mass also can be confirmed through biopsy. This will show more of inflammatory features, most likely chronic.
In a situation where suspicion exists, its always better to rule out malignancy.
Please do send in more questions.
Regards
Dr. A. Rao Kavoor
Thank you for writing in to Health Care Magic.
From your description of the lesion, it seems like there is a soft tissue mass in the right calf region for almost last two years and presently measures 12.5 cms.
A soft tissue mass in the calf region can contain originate from either fibrous tissue (fibroma), muscular tissue (myoma), fat tissue (lipoma), vascular tissue (hemangioma), nerve tissue (neuroma or schwannoma) or a mix of some elements. You also have to keep in mind the adjacent bone, nerves and vessels. Most of these neoplasms can be benign to start with and appear well defined. If there is irregularity in appearance and local infiltration, then malignancy must be ruled out Then the tumors become sarcomas (fibrosarcoma, liposarcoma, soft tissue sarcoma).
It could be that in the MRI done 6 months ago, there was a well defined swelling in the region which made the doctor think that there was no cancer. Present features may show infiltration and local spread and hence the suspicion of cancer.
The fact that you are now experiencing numbness may be because of local infiltration of the surrounding structures. Lyrica is pregabalin and useful for neuropathy pain. The main problem over here lies in diagnosing the mass pathologically.
A FNAC/ Biopsy (core or incision) is a must in tissue diagnosis. This will be interpretated by the pathologist for the types of cells found in the mass.
An inflammatory mass also can be confirmed through biopsy. This will show more of inflammatory features, most likely chronic.
In a situation where suspicion exists, its always better to rule out malignancy.
Please do send in more questions.
Regards
Dr. A. Rao Kavoor
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