Assessing visibility and bone changes of spinal metastases in CT scans: a comprehensive analysis across diverse cancer types

To analyze the characteristics of spinal metastasis in CT scans across diverse cancers for effective diagnosis and treatment, using MRI as the gold standard. A retrospective study of 309 patients from four centers, who underwent concurrent CT and spinal MRI, revealing spinal metastasis, was conducted. Data on metastasis including total number, volume, visibility on CT (visible, indeterminate, or invisible), and type of bone change were collected. Through chi-square and Mann–Whitney U tests, we characterized the metastasis across diverse cancers and investigated the variation in the intra-individual ratio representing the percentage of lesions within each category for each patient. Out of 3333 spinal metastases from 309 patients, 55