Correlation of Renal Mass Pathologic Grade and Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS)

Summary

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Description

Renal malignancies are relatively common, with lifetime risk ranging from 1 in 48 in men to 1 in 83 in women, of which RCC is the most common. RCC comes in a variety of subtypes, and pathologic grade has been shown to be one factor that correlates with patient prognosis [Novara et al]. The most comm...

Renal malignancies are relatively common, with lifetime risk ranging from 1 in 48 in men to 1 in 83 in women, of which RCC is the most common. RCC comes in a variety of subtypes, and pathologic grade has been shown to be one factor that correlates with patient prognosis [Novara et al]. The most commonly used pathologic grading systems are the WHO or Fuhrman scale, which rely on histologic features of the tumor such as nuclear size, irregularity, and nucleolar prominence. Care of patients with RCC depends on a number of factors, including size and pathologic grade. As such, radiologic surveillance with CT and MRI is common, and percutaneous biopsy of renal masses for the purpose of pathologic grading is also relatively common. While percutaneous biopsy of renal masses is the least invasive way to obtain tissue, these still carry risks, especially of hemorrhage give the vascular nature of the kidneys and RCC. Contrast enhanced ultrasound has been shown to have the ability to differentiate renal masses from normal background renal parenchyma [Barr et al]. It has the unique ability to be used in patients with renal dysfunction as it is excreted by the liver and lungs. As such, it is well suited for use in patients with underlying renal pathology. This study will aim to use contrast enhanced ultrasound to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative features of renal masses prior to surgical removal, and then evaluate for correlation of these features with pathologic grading following surgery.

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