Multimodality Imaging of Pediatrics Tumors

Cancer is the second most common cause of death in children aged 1-14 years, surpassed only by accidents. Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer, followed by central nervous system (CNS) cancer, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, nephroblastoma, and other nonepithelial renal tumors, malignant bone tumors, and rhabdomyosarcoma. The overall cancer incidence rate in children and adolescents has been increasing since 1975 for reasons that remain unclear, but, on the other side, death rates are in continuous decline, starting from 6.3/100000 in children and 7.1/100000 in adolescents in 1970 to 2.0/100000 and 2.9/100000, respectively, in 2018. The appropriate utilization of radiology resources is an important topic in medicine because it exposes children to unnecessary and damaging radiation, especially in children. Nowadays we have diagnostic imaging techniques that do not involve the use of ionizing radiation such as ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which are always preferred in children. Compared to CT, MRI provides additional information, but has several limitations such as the long acquisition time (30-45 min) and the loud noise emitted by the equipment. These two factors are very negative for a small child who cannot stay still for a long time and cries because of the noise. For these reasons, there is a need for counseling, sedation or general anesthesia.