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Updated: Jul 8, 2026

Point-of-Care Kidney and Genitourinary Ultrasound in Adults: Image Acquisition
Published on: June 21, 2024
Imaging features of helical computed tomography suggesting advanced urothelial carcinoma arising from the
Kyung Won Kwak1, Byung Kwan Park, Chan Kyo Kim
1Department of Urology, Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Background:
Urothelial carcinoma is the most common malignant tumor arising from the pelvocalyceal system. Helical computed tomography (CT) is probably the best preoperative-stage modality for the determination of treatment plan and prognosis.
Purpose:
To obtain helical CT imaging features suggesting advanced pelvocalyceal urothelial carcinoma.
Material And Methods:
Preoperative CT images in 44 patients with pelvocalyceal urothelial carcinoma were retrospectively reviewed and correlated with the pathological examination to determine imaging features suggesting stage III or IV of the disease.
Results:
Pathological stages revealed stage I in 16, stage II in three, stage III in 17, and stage IV in eight patients. Seven patients had metastatic lymph nodes. CT imaging showed that renal parenchymal invasion, sinus fat invasion, and lymph node metastasis were highly suggestive of advanced urothelial cell carcinoma (P<0.05). Helical CT sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for advanced pelvocalyceal urothelial carcinoma were 76% (19/25), 84% (16/19), and 80% (35/44), respectively.
Conclusion:
Preoperative helical CT may suggest imaging features of advanced urothelial carcinoma, influencing treatment plan and patient prognosis, even though its accuracy is not so high.
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