Assessment of Postoperative Posttreatment Changes: General Considerations

This chapter deals with the general principles of posttreatment imaging of tumors of the osseous spine. Prerequisites for post-therapeutic imaging include clinical presentation and familiarity with the tumor histology, surgical technique, previous radio- or chemotherapy, and access to the preoperative imaging. The recommended time interval for local and distant posttreatment imaging depends on the tumor histology. MRI is the preferred technique for local surveillance and should include conventional MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging, and dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging. In the presence of metal implants, the imaging parameters should be adjusted.