Renal Angiomyolipoma: Radiologic Classification and Imaging Features According to the Amount of Fat

The purposes of this article are to introduce the radiologic classifications of renal angiomyolipoma (AML) and the clinical implications, to show the imaging features of each type of AML, and to describe which types of AML should be biopsied.

Renal AML can be classified according to amount of fat as fat rich, fat poor, or fat invisible. To detect fat, one needs to thoroughly evaluate the entire AML by controlling the size and shape of the ROI. Fat-invisible AML should be biopsied, and fat-poor AML requires further investigation to determine whether biopsy is necessary to differentiate it from renal cell carcinoma. If differentiation between AML and renal cell carcinoma is not clear with CT and MRI, percutaneous biopsy may be performed.