Renal carcinoma: duplex Doppler evaluation

Doppler ultrasound has a clearly defined role in the assessment of carotid and peripheral vascular disease. In these situations vessel pathology produces alterations in velocity and volume flow and in the flow-velocity spectrum. Flow in the renal arteries is affected not only by disease of the renal vessels but also by the peripheral resistance to flow within the kidney. Alterations in this peripheral resistance resulting from renal disease are reflected in the Doppler flow spectrum analysis. In 14 patients with renal carcinoma, three different blood flow patterns were observed, reflecting the differing vascularity of the renal tumours. These were compared with blood flow in normal kidneys and in kidneys containing renal cysts. Doppler ultrasound adds further information to the study of renal carcinomas, allowing the prediction of tumour vascularity, and may be useful as a preliminary investigation prior to angiography and embolisation.