Metanephric adenoma in children: A case report and literature review

Metanephric adenoma (MA) is a rare type of benign renal epithelial tumor that can develop at any age. Nonetheless, MA is extremely rare in children and only a few cases have been reported to date. The present study aimed to report the case of a 5-year-old female found to have a mass in the right kidney during a routine pre-enrollment physical examination. Computed tomography (CT) images revealed multiple high-density calcifications in the mass, and contrast-enhanced CT and magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated that the mass was significantly enhanced in the cortical phase and decreased in the medullary phase. Based on these findings, the mass was initially diagnosed as angiomyolipoma before surgery; however, postoperative pathology confirmed the mass to be a MA. MAs are typically a type of soft tissue mass with relatively uniform density or signal, showing delayed enhancement in contrast-enhanced scanning. However, the mass found in the present study presented diffused high-density calcification, which was obvious in the early phase of contrast-enhanced scanning but weakened in the delayed enhancement phase. In conclusion, the present case study demonstrated that MA should be considered as one of the imaging differential diagnoses of fat-poor angiomyolipoma, renal carcinoma and oncocytoma.