Spilling the beans: an inside scoop on the imaging of renal parenchymal disease

Renal parenchymal disease is commonly encountered on imaging, and an understanding of the spectrum of pathology is vital to making correct diagnoses and recommendations for management. These conditions can be categorized based on the presence of calcifications, cysts, solid masses, patterns of enhancement, and other characteristic non-mass findings, as well as on their spatial distribution (i.e., medullary vs. cortical). Making an accurate diagnosis is often challenging, as there is overlap in the features of various diseases, and many benign entities may mimic pathology.

This review broadly discusses imaging features of renal parenchymal disease and provides a systematic approach to characterize findings and appropriately guide further management.