title: Comparison of 16-MDCT and MRI for characterization of kidney lesions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of our study was to compare the diagnostic performance of 16-MDCT with that of MRI in the characterization of kidney lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-eight patients with kidney lesions detected with sonography and requiring further evaluation were examined. MDCT was performed in the unenhanced, arterial, and portal venous phases. MRI was performed at 1.5 T with T2- and T1-weighted and dynamic gadolinium-enhanced sequences. Consensus reading was done by two radiologists. Image quality was rated on a four-point scale. Classification of lesions as surgical or nonsurgical was done with five levels of confidence, and it was required that a definite diagnosis be assigned to each lesion. The 1997 TNM classification was used for staging. Statistical analysis was done by receiver operating characteristic analysis or paired Student's t test. Histologic or follow-up findings at least 12 months after the primary diagnosis served as the standard of reference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The image quality of MDCT (mean grade, 2.79 on a 0-3 scale) was superior to that of MRI (1.93; p < 0.01). The area under the curve for differentiating surgical from nonsurgical lesions was 0.979 for MDCT and 0.957 for MRI with resulting sensitivity and specificity values of 92.3% and 96.3% for MDCT and 92.3% and 91.3% for MRI. Sensitivity and specificity for definite classification of the lesions were 93.8% and 68.4% for MDCT and 93.8% and 71.4% for MRI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both MDCT and MRI are excellent for differentiating surgical from nonsurgical kidney lesions. Both methods have low specificity for the differentiation of benign from malignant lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Technische Universitaet Munichen, Ismaninger Strasse 21, Munich, Germany, 81675. beer@roe.med.tum.de
authors.forename: Ambros J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Beer
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dobritz
authors.forename: Niko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zantl
authors.forename: Gregor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Weirich
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stollfuss
authors.forename: Ernst J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Rummeny
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods