PERSPECTIVE APPROACHES IN THE EVALUATION OF THE PREOPERATIVE CHEMOTHERAPY OF BONE SARCOMAS USING PLAIN RADIOGRAPHY

Purpose. To determine the informational content of the x-ray examination in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the preoperative chemotherapy of bone sarcomas in the middle and at the end of the treatment using decisive rule program. Materials and methods. To develop and verify the decisive rule program for plain radiography in the evaluation of neoadjuvant chemotherapy we analyzed 109 radiograms of patients with bone sarcomas (mostly with osteosarcoma, which composed 83,5% of the cases). The patients were examined before, in the middle and at the end of the course of the preoperative chemotherapy. Results. The sensitivity of the plain radiography using the decisive rule program on the first diagnostic stage (in the middle of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy) was 81,6% , the specificity was 64,1%. At the end of the preoperative treatment, on the second diagnostic stage, the values of the sensitivity and specificity increased up to 85,4% and 68,9% correspondingly. The characteristics of the assessment of the preoperative chemotherapy by radiologist itself and using the decisive rule program were comparable. Conclusion. The development and use of the decisive rule programs based on diagnostic and differential criteria will improve radiographic diagnostic in the evaluation of the preoperative chemotherapy of bone sarcomas.

osteosarcoma, chemotherapy, plain radiography