Computerized tomography scan in the preoperative staging of renal cell carcinoma.

Forty-two patients with renal cell carcinoma were evaluated with computerized tomography (CT) followed by surgical exploration, extirpative surgery, or autopsy to determine the accuracy of the CT scan in assessing the extension of the disease. There was an overall accuracy of 95 percent (40/42 patients). The two staging errors were misinterpretation of renal vein involvement and liver invasion. The CT scan is an accurate preoperative indicator of the diagnosis, state, and extension of renal cell carcinoma. Other radiologic studies (arteriography and inferior venacavography) should be used as complementary studies in selective patients.