title: Alveolar architecture of clear cell renal carcinomas (< or = 5.0 cm) show high attenuation on dynamic CT scanning.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To establish the correlation between tumor appearance on CT and tumor histology in renal cell carcinomas.
  
  
  METHODS
  The density and attenuation patterns of 96 renal cell carcinomas, each < or = 5 cm in greatest diameter, were studied by non-enhanced CT and early and late after bolus injection of contrast medium using dynamic CT. The density and attenuation patterns and pathological maps of each tumor were individually correlated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  High attenuated areas were present in 72 of the 96 tumors on early enhanced dynamic CT scanning. All 72 high attenuated areas were of the clear cell renal cell carcinoma and had alveolar architecture. The remaining 24 tumors that did not demonstrate high attenuated foci on early enhanced scanning included three clear cell, nine granular cell, six papillary, five chromophobe and one collecting duct type. With respect to tumor architecture, all clear cell tumors of alveolar architecture demonstrated high attenuation on early enhanced scanning.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clear cell renal cell carcinomas of alveolar architecture show high attenuation on early enhanced dynamic CT scanning. A larger number of patients are indispensable to obtaining clear results. However, these findings seem to be an important clue to the diagnosis of renal cell carcinomas as having an alveolar structure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujimoto
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wakao
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Moriyama
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tobisu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kakizoe
mesh_terms: D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology*; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D011856:Radiographic Image Enhancement; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*