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Updated: Apr 11, 2026
Author Spotlight: Decellularization-Based Quantification of Skeletal Muscle Fatty Infiltration
Published on: June 9, 2023
Angiomyolipoma (AML) without visible fat: Ultrasound, CT and MR imaging features with pathological correlation
Shaheed W Hakim1, Nicola Schieda2, Taryn Hodgdon3
1Department of Anatomical Pathology, The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa, 501 Smyth Road, 4 floor CCW, Room 4278, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1Y 4E9. shakim@toh.on.ca.
Objective:
To compare imaging findings with histopathology in AML without visible fat (AMLwvf).
Material And Methods:
With IRB approval, we identified 18 AMLwvf that underwent CT between 2002-2014. A radiologist measured NECT-attenuation, corticomedullary (CM) and nephrographic (NG) enhancement, echogenicity relative to renal cortex (RC) (N = 5), T2W (T2AML/T2RC) signal-intensity (SI), and chemical-shift SI ([SIIN-PHASE - SIOPPOSED-PHASE]/SIIN-PHASE) indices (N = 6). A pathologist re-evaluated 15/18 AMLwvf for 1) < or > 25% adipocytes/high-power-field (HPF), 2) "many or few" blood vessels. Comparisons were performed using chi-square and independent t-tests.
Results:
73.3%(11/15) of AMLwvf had <25% adipocytes/HPF and 86.7%(13/15) had "many" blood vessels. NECT-attenuation was 41.8(±6.9) HU. 61.1 %(11/18) of AMLwvf were hyper-attenuating and 38.9%(7/18) iso-attenuating; attenuation was associated with %-adipocytes/HPF, (p = 0.01). CM/NG enhancement were 63.3(±20.8)/51.7(±15.5) HU. 72.2%(13/18) of AMLwvf had wash-out enhancement, with no association with amount of blood vessels at pathology, (p = 0.68). No difference in echogenicity was noted by histology (p > 0.05). All AMLwvf were T2-hypointense (SI ratio = 0.61 [±0.1]). 2/6 AMLwvf showed SI drop on chemical-shift MRI; both were iso-attenuating and were associated with >25% adipocytes/HPF (p = 0.04).
Conclusions:
AMLwvf are typically T2-hypointense and hyper-attenuating with wash-out enhancement due to abundant smooth muscle and vessels respectively. Iso-attenuating AMLwvf with microscopic fat on MRI contain more adipocytes/HPF.
Key Points:
• Five percent of AML do not demonstrate detectable fat on imaging • These AML are hyperattenuating and T2-hypointense due to abundant smooth muscle • These AML show washout enhancement without association to vessel count at histopathology • Iso-attenuating AML with microscopic fat on MRI show >25% adipocytes/HPF • The term "AML without visible fat" is proposed to reduce ambiguity.
