OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the most significant features of parosteal osteosarcoma and to describe the most frequent findings on conventional radiology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed including 26 cases of patients with parosteal osteosarcoma from the archives of "Clube do Osso", Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil, with analysis of main clinical and radiological findings. RESULTS: The disease was prevalent in female patients in the third decade of life. Main clinical findings were the increase in volume on the site of the tumor (77% of cases) and local pain (68% of cases). The most frequent site of tumor was the popliteal fossa (40%), and metaphyseal involvement has occurred in 92% of cases. The most frequent radiological findings were densely mineralized lesions on juxtacortical locations, and irregularly thickened adjacent host cortex (92.3%), with adherence areas being observed in 88.5% of cases, besides lobular (50%) or irregular (38.5%) tumor margins. Also, a radiolucent line between the tumor and the adjacent bone (48%), a denser mineralization on the basis than in the periphery of the tumor (42.3%), and a small rate of periosteal reaction (15.4%) were found. CONCLUSION: Although computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging are important modalities for identifying some aspects of parosteal osteosarcoma, conventional x-ray is essential in the initial evaluation of this type of lesion, most frequently allowing differential diagnosis with other surface bone lesions.

Keywords: Parosteal osteosarcoma, Bone radiology

OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between mammography findings and pathology results in patients with breast tumors associated with round calcifications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed 16 patients with malignant breast tumors whose mammograms showed round calcifications as the sole finding. The histological types, number of calcifications and the most frequent distribution patterns were studied. RESULTS: The most common histological type of these tumors was cribriform carcinoma in 42.9% of the cases, followed by micropapillary carcinoma (23.8%), comedo (19%) and infiltrating ductaI carcinoma (9.5%). Association of two or more histological types was seen in five cases in a total of 21 tumors. Uncharacteristic distribution pattern was observed in 56% of the cases, ductal pattern in 31.5% and lobular pattern in 12.5%. Regarding the number of calcifications, more than 20 calcifications were seen in 75% of the cases, between 10 and 20 calcifications in 12.5%, and less than 10 calcifications in 12.5%. CONCLUSION: Malignant breast tumors may present round calcifications as the sole mammographic finding. These calcifications may present a lobular, ductal or uncharacteristic pattern of distribution.

Keywords: Round calcifications, Mammography, Malignant breast tumors

Ground-glass opacity is a finding frequently seen in high-resolution computed tomography examinations of the chest and is characterized by hazy increased attenuation of lung, however without blurring of bronchial and vascular margins. Due to its unspecificity, association with other radiological, clinical and pathological findings must be considered for an accurate diagnostic interpretation. In this paper were reviewed 62 computed tomography examinations of patients with diffuse pulmonary diseases of 14 different etiologies in which ground-glass opacity was the only or the most remarkable finding, and correlated this findings with pathology abnormalities seen on specimens obtained from biopsies or necropsies. In pneumocystosis, ground-glass opacities correlated histologically with alveolar occupation by a foaming material containing parasites, in bronchioloalveolar cell carcinoma with thickening of the alveolar septa and occupation of the lumen by mucus and tumoral cells, in paracoccidioidomycosis with thickening of the alveolar septa, areas of fibrosis and alveolar bronchopneumonic exsudate, in sarcoidosis with fibrosis or clustering of granulomas and in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with alveolar septa thickening due to fibrosis. Alveolar occupation by blood was found in cases of leptospirosis, idiopathic hemosiderosis, metastatic kidney tumor and invasive aspergillosis whereas oily vacuoli were seen in lipoid pneumonia, proteinaceus and lipoproteinaceus material in silicoproteinosis and pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, and edematous fluid in cardiac failure.

Keywords: Ground-glass opacity, Lungs, High-resolution computed tomography

We carried out 30 comparison studies to establish the relationship between mammography and pathology findings in 29 patients with malignant breast tumors that presented calcifications associated with the lesion on the mammograms. The main purpose of this work was to verify whether the shapes of the calcifications correspond to specific types of tumor, and could be related to the location they originate from. Two objective features of the calcifications observed on the mammograms were studied: shape and distribution. This study showed that carcinomas of the comedo type presented a high frequency of pleomorphic calcifications (95.5%) and a ductal distribution pattern in 66.5% of the cases. Cribriform carcinomas that were not associated to the comedo type presented only round calcifications in 66.5% of the cases, prevailing an undefined distribution pattern (78.5%). Micropapillary tumors that were not associated to the comedo type presented only round calcifications in 66.5% of the cases, prevailing an undefined distribution pattern (66.5%). None of the tumors showed a lobular distribution pattern. Shapeless calcifications in the absence of a tumoral nodule may be suggestive of infiltrative ductal carcinoma. Considering the histological architectural pattern of the 30 tumors, 24 (80%) showed the expected calcification shapes.

Keywords: Mammography, Breast calcifications, Pathologic anatomy

Objective: To characterize the mammographic appearance of cancerization of lobules by ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), by correlating imaging and histological findings. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was based on a review of the histopathological reports of 135 patients who underwent breast biopsy. A diagnosis of cancerization of lobules by DCIS was confirmed in 12 patients. Two cases were excluded because the histopathological sections were not available to correlate pathological and mammographic findings. All mammograms were retrospectively reviewed and categorized by two experienced breast radiologists, with no knowledge of the histological findings. Results: Nine cases (90%) presented clusters of round microcalcifications, and one (10%) had round and linear calcifications. The distribution of the calcifications was defined as lobular in all the cases. Histopathological study showed four cases of cribriform DCIS, two cases of comedo DCIS, one case of solid DCIS, one case of cribriform associated with solid DCIS, and one case of cribriform associated with solid and comedo DCIS. In the case showing round and linear calcifications, the histological subtype was cribriform DCIS. With respect to the number of microcalcifications, nine cases presented more than 20, and only one case showed less than 10 microcalcifications. Conclusion: In our cohort, the mammographic evaluation of patients with DCIS presenting cancerization of lobules demonstrated clusters of microcalcifications in a lobular distribution. Although clusters of round calcifications are typically associated with a benign process, cancerization of lobules by DCIS may produce a similar pattern, thus mimicking a benign condition.

Keywords: Mammography; Ductal carcinoma in situ; Microcalcifications.