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Updated: Jun 22, 2026

In Vivo, Percutaneous, Needle Based, Optical Coherence Tomography of Renal Masses
Published on: March 30, 2015
The characterization of small hypoattenuating renal masses on contrast-enhanced CT
Neesha S Patel1, Liina Poder, Zhen J Wang
1Department of Radiology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-0628, USA.
Purpose:
To determine if small hypoattenuating renal masses can be characterized as simple cysts or renal cell carcinomas on contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT).
Materials And Methods:
We retrospectively identified 20 small (
Results:
The overall area under the receiver operator characteristic curves for subjective visual impression, CT attenuation, border, and shape were 0.97, 0.82, 0.59, and 0.55, respectively. Using dichotomized ratings (1-2=cyst and 3-5=carcinoma), subjective impression had a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 79-100%, respectively, for the diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma. Using a threshold of 50 Hounsfield Units (HU) or more, CT attenuation had a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 43-64%, respectively.
Conclusion:
Small hypoattenuating renal masses can be characterized with reasonable accuracy by subjective impression and CT attenuation; lesions that appear solid on visual inspection or have an attenuation value of 50 HU or more are likely to be renal cell carcinoma.
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