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- • CT with intravenous dye (the same dye used for intravenous pyelograms) will accurately diagnose renal
- tumors in 95 percent of cases and be falsely positive in fewer than 2 percent. This test may also show the
- tumor extension outside the kidney and can determine the extent of lymph node, liver and blood vessel
- involvement.
- • MRI has replaced the inferior vena cavagram for determining more clearly the extent of blood vessel
- involvement and involvement of adjacent structures.
- • Selective renal arteriography is helpful in finding small tumors and providing information that sometimes may
- be needed at the time of surgery about uncommon blood vessel patterns and, in selected cases, determining the
- possibility of a partial nephrectomy (removal of only a portion of the kidney) for small localized tumors.
- • Other tests before surgery simply assure that there are no distant metastases. These include chest x-rays (if
- abnormal it may be followed by a chest CT scan), bone scans or skeletal x-rays and a liver scan (unnecessary
- when an abdominal CT scan is performed).
-
- Biopsy
- • Ultimately, the diagnosis is made either by removing the kidney (nephrectomy) or by a thin needle aspiration
- through the skin for cytologic slide examination. Looking for tumor cells in the urine is not useful.
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