False positive findings on liver scans in carcinoma of kidney

In most urologic centers, liver scan is a routine investigation for evaluation of carcinoma of the kidney. Herein are described 3 patients with carcinoma of the right kidney, who had abnormal liver scans and did not show any metastases on exploration and open liver biopsy. These false positive findings were found to be due to the extrinsic compression of the liver by the tumor. When interpreting the liver sacn in a patient with renal tumor on the right side, the possibility of this false positive finding due to extrinsic compression to be considered and an abnormal hepatic scan alone should not be a contraindication for possible radical surgery.