Color Doppler sonographic findings in patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder and renal pelvis

The purposes of this study were (1) to evaluate the color Doppler sonographic findings in patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder and renal pelvis, (2) to determine if color Doppler sonography could predict tumor grade and stage, and (3) to determine whether tumor vascularity is related to size. A total of 15 patients with 16 bladder transitional cell carcinomas and one patient with renal pelvic transitional cell carcinoma were evaluated prospectively with transabdominal color Doppler ultrasonography. The presence or absence of visible vascularity and the resistive index were correlated with tumor size, cytologic grade, and tumor stage. Statistical analysis was performed with Fisher's exact test. Seven (41%) of 17 tumors had visible vascularity: five (45%) of 11 high-grade transitional cell carcinomas were vascular, whereas two (33%) of six low-grade transitional cell carcinomas were vascular (P = 1.00). Three of five (60%) of the invasive lesions were vascular, but the vascularity was not predictive of tumor stage (P = 0.593). The vascular high-grade tumors tended to have more numerous and larger visible vessels than the vascular low-grade lesions. No tumor smaller then 23 mm was vascular, but the size of the tumor was not predictive of the vascularity (P = 0.1172). The resistive index was measurable in six tumors, but it was not predictive of grade or stage. Color Doppler ultrasonography is not helpful clinically in the evaluation of transitional cell carcinoma as tumor grade, stage, and size are not related to vascularity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)