Preoperative staging of renal cell carcinoma with inferior vena cava thrombus using multidetector CT and MRI:...

To evaluate the accuracy of multidetector computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in staging and estimating renal carcinomas with caval thrombus.

Initially, 23 patients with suspected caval thrombi were admitted into this prospective study. Triphasic CT imaging was performed using a multidetector CT with a reconstructed slice thickness of 2 mm. 3D CT reconstructions were used to improve surgical planning. MRI protocol included: a transversal T1-weighted GE sequence with and without Gd-DTPA, a transversal T2-weighted respiratory-gated TSE, and a coronal T1-weighted GE sequence with Gd-DTPA and fat saturation. In addition, a multiphase 3D angiography was performed after Gd-DTPA injection. Patients were divided into 3 groups: caval thrombus below the insertion of the hepatic veins, within the intrahepatic vena cava, and intra-atrial extension. The results the tumor thrombus extension and staging results of 2 independent readers were correlated with surgical and histopathological staging.

Of the 23 patients admitted, CT and MR scans of 14/13 patients respectively were correlated with histopathological workup. CT thrombus detection sensitivity and specificity for both readers was 0.93 and 0.8 respectively. MRI sensitivity and specificity for both readers was 1.0/0.85 and 0.75. Readers I and II evaluated the uppermost extension of the cranial tumor thrombus by both CT and MRI. CT and MR accuracy was 78% and 72%, 88% and 76% respectively.

In cases of a suspected tumor thrombus, MRI and multidetector CT imaging showed similar staging results. Consequently, these staging modalities can be used to assess the extension of the tumor thrombus.