Comparison of computed tomography and ultrasound in abdominal staging of renal cancer.

The relative accuracy of computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound in abdominal staging of renal cancer was determined in 22 patients. CT is capable of detecting tumor invasion of perinephric fat and adjacent muscles, which cannot usually be shown by ultrasound. While both CT and ultrasound demonstrate venous and retroperitoneal tumor extension, CT is more reliable since bowel gas not infrequently obscures the retroperitoneum on ultrasonic scanning. However, ultrasound will often provide valuable information; and whenever a solid renal mass is detected by echography using prone scans, abdominal scans should be obtained for staging pruposes.