Soft tissue tumor imaging in adults: European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology-Guidelines 2023—overview, and primary local imaging: how and where?

Early, accurate diagnosis is crucial for the prognosis of patients with soft tissue sarcomas. To this end, standardization of imaging algorithms, technical requirements, and reporting is therefore a prerequisite. Since the first European Society of Musculoskeletal Radiology (ESSR) consensus in 2015, technical achievements, further insights into specific entities, and the revised WHO-classification (2020) and AJCC staging system (2017) made an update necessary. The guidelines are intended to support radiologists in their decision-making and contribute to interdisciplinary tumor board discussions. A validated Delphi method based on peer-reviewed literature was used to derive consensus among a panel of 46 specialized musculoskeletal radiologists from 12 European countries. Statements were scored online by level of agreement (0 to 10) during two iterative rounds. Either “group consensus,” “group agreement,” or “lack of agreement” was achieved. Eight sections were defined that finally contained 145 statements with comments. Overall, group consensus was reached in 95.9