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Updated: May 14, 2026

Point-of-Care Kidney and Genitourinary Ultrasound in Adults: Image Acquisition
Published on: June 21, 2024
Evaluation of renal masses with contrast-enhanced ultrasound
S Houtzager1, H Wijkstra, J J M C H de la Rosette
1Academic Medical Center, PO Box 22660, 1100 DD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
The clinical need for characterising small renal masses (SRMs) is increasing due to their rising incidental detection. This increase is especially seen in younger and older generations and concerns mainly SRMs. Diagnostics is mainly made by contrast-enhanced CT or MRI. However, these imaging methods fail to accurately distinguishing benign from malignant SRMs. Other disadvantages of CT or MRI are high costs, the use of ionizing radiation, nephrotoxicity induced by iodine contrast agents or nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF) induced by gadolinium contrast agents. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is based on ultrasonography and microbubbles to real-time visualize the renal blood flow without the use of nephrotoxic agents or ionizing radiation. This comprehensive review evaluates the capabilities of CEUS in the diagnostics of benign (angiomyolipomas, cysts, oncocytomas, pseudotumors) and malignant masses (renal cell carcinomas), and focuses on possible future treatment.
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