Kidney tumor is one of the diseases threatening human health. Ultrasound is widely applied in kidney tumor diagnosis due to its high popularization, low price and no radiation. Accurate segmentation of kidney tumor is the basis of precise treatment. Kidney tumors often grow in the middle of cortex, so that segmentation is easy disturbed by nearby organs. Besides, ultrasound images own low contrast and large speckle, leading to difficult segmentation. This paper proposed a novel kidney tumor segmentation method in ultrasound images using adaptive sub-regional evolution level set models (ASLSM). Regions of interest are firstly divided into subareas. Secondly, object function is designed by integrating inside and outside energy and gradient, in which the ratio of these two parts are adjusted adaptively. Thirdly, ASLSM adapts convolution radius and curvature according to centroid principle and similarity inside and outside zero level set. Hausdorff distance (HD) of (8.75 ± 4.21) mm, mean absolute distance (MAD) of (3.26 ± 1.69) mm, dice-coefficient (DICE) of 0.93 ± 0.03 were obtained in the experiment. Compared with traditional ultrasound segmentation method, ASLSM is more accurate in kidney tumor segmentation. ASLSM may offer convenience for doctor to locate and diagnose kidney tumor in the future.
Algorithms ; Fetal Growth Retardation ; Humans ; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Kidney Neoplasms ; Osteochondrodysplasias ; Ultrasonography

Renal metastasis of thyroid cancer is extremely rare. We report the case of a 62-year-old woman with Hürthle cell thyroid cancer (HCTC) with lungs, bones, and bilateral kidneys metastases. The renal metastatic lesions were clearly demonstrated by ¹³¹I whole body scan (WBS) with SPECT/CT. However, they exhibited false-negative results in ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT, kidney ultrasonography, and contrast-enhanced CT scan. The findings imply that tumors have low glucose metabolism and are able to accumulate radioiodine, which is not commonly found in the relatively aggressive nature of HCTC. The patient received two sessions of 200 mCi ¹³¹I therapy within 6 months duration. There was complete treatment response as evaluated by the second post-therapeutic ¹³¹I SPECT/CT and serum thyroglobulin. To our knowledge, renal metastasis from HCTC with positive ¹³¹I but negative ¹⁸F-FDGuptake has not been reported in the literature. This case suggests that ¹³¹I SPECT/CTis useful for lesion localization and prediction of ¹³¹I therapy response.
Female ; Glucose ; Humans ; Kidney ; Lung ; Metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Positron-Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography ; Sodium Iodide ; Sodium ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Ultrasonography ; Whole Body Imaging

From January 2008 to January 2013, 11 patients with central renal tumors underwent ultrasound-guided open nephron sparing surgery (ONSS) without renal artery occlusion. We removed the lesions, and the cut edges of the tumors were negative. Thus, we deduced that ultrasound-guided ONSS is suitable for the cases with obscure tumor boundary or multiple lesions. It could achieve the purpose of thoroughly removing lesions, as well as to expand the application range of nephron sparing surgery.
Arterial Occlusive Diseases ; etiology ; prevention & control ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; surgery ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; surgery ; Male ; Nephrons ; surgery ; Postoperative Complications ; Renal Artery ; pathology ; surgery ; Surgery, Computer-Assisted ; adverse effects ; methods ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether suppression of tumor microvasculature by double anti-angiogenic protein (DAAP) treatment could increase the extent of radiofrequency ablation (RFA)-induced coagulation in a murine renal cell carcinoma model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Renal cell carcinoma cell lines were implanted subcutaneously into 10 nude mice. Four mice received adenoviral DAAP treatment and 6 mice received sterile 0.9% saline solution as DAAP-untreated group. The effect of DAAP was evaluated according to the vascularity by contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) using microbubbles. Four DAAP-treated mice and 4 DAAP-untreated mice were then treated with RFA, resulting in 3 groups: no-therapy (n = 2), RFA only (n = 4), and RFA combined with DAAP treatment (n = 4). Immediately after RFA, the size of coagulation necrosis and mitochondrial enzyme activity were compared between the groups using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc test. RESULTS: The contrast enhancement ratio for tumor vascularization on CEUS was significantly lower in the DAAP treated group than in DAAP-untreated group (30.2 +/- 9.9% vs. 77.4 +/- 17.3%; p = 0.021). After RFA, the mean coagulation diameter was 0 mm for no-therapy group, 6.7 +/- 0.7 mm for the RFA only group and 8.5 +/- 0.4 mm for the RFA with DAAP group (ANOVA, p < 0.001). The area of viable mitochondria within the tumor was 27.9 +/- 3.9% in no-therapy group, 10.3 +/- 4.5% in the RFA only group, and 2.1 +/- 0.7% in the RFA with DAAP group (ANOVA, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest the potential value of combining RFA with anti-angiogenic therapy.
Adenoviridae ; Angiogenic Proteins/*antagonists & inhibitors ; Animals ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/blood supply/surgery/*therapy ; Catheter Ablation/*methods ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Contrast Media ; Kidney Neoplasms/blood supply/surgery/*therapy ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Microbubbles ; Neovascularization, Pathologic/surgery/*therapy/ultrasonography ; Recombinant Proteins

We report an unusual case of synchronous triple primary cancer of the stomach, kidney, and thyroid in a 50-year-old male patient. Initial esophagogastroduodenoscopy with biopsy for the medical check-up revealed poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. We performed an abdominal/pelvic computed tomography scan for staging and incidentally found a 1.7-cm exophytic hypervascular mass in the left kidney. Thyroid ultrasonography showed suspicious malignant nodules suspicious with multiple lymph nodes (LNs) metastasis in the right side of the neck. Subsequent fine needle aspiration biopsy of a nodule and a LN was performed. Cytologic report revealed papillary thyroid carcinoma with lateral LNs metastasis. Our integrate oncology team performed radical subtotal gastrectomy, partial nephrectomy, and total thyroidectomy with modified radical neck dissection. The postoperative pathologic finding was well-differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma (T1N0M0; stage 1A), renal cell carcinoma (T1aN0M0; stage 1), and papillary thyroid carcinoma (T4bN1bM0; stage 4B). He received postoperative a radio-active iodine ablation and is doing well with no recurrence.
Adenocarcinoma ; Biopsy ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Iodine ; Kidney* ; Lymph Nodes ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neck ; Neck Dissection ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nephrectomy ; Recurrence ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Stomach* ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Thyroidectomy ; Ultrasonography

The prevalence of small renal masses (SRM) has risen, paralleling the increased usage of cross-sectional imaging. A large proportion of these SRMs are not malignant, and do not require invasive treatment such as nephrectomy. Therefore, differentation between early renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and benign SRM is critical to achieve proper management. This article reviews the radiological features of benign SRMs, with focus on two of the most common benign entities, angiomyolipoma and oncocytoma, in terms of their common imaging findings and differential features from RCC. Furthermore, the role of percutaneous biopsy is discussed as imaging is yet imperfect, therefore necessitating biopsy in certain circumstances to confirm the benignity of SRMs.
Abdominal Fat/pathology ; Adenoma, Oxyphilic/diagnosis/radiography/ultrasonography ; Angiomyolipoma/diagnosis/radiography/ultrasonography ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/*diagnosis/radiography/ultrasonography ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms/*diagnosis/*radiography/ultrasonography ; Leiomyoma/diagnosis/radiography/ultrasonography

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the value of enhancement features and quantitative parameters of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in differentiating solid hypoechoic renal angiomyolipomas (AMLs) from clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed the enhancement features and quantitative parameters of CEUS in 174 hypoechoic renal masses (32 AMLs and 142 ccRCCs) included in the study. RESULTS: Centripetal enhancement pattern was more common in AMLs than in ccRCCs on CEUS (71.9% vs. 23.2%, p < 0.001). At peak enhancement, all AMLs showed homogeneous enhancement (100% in AML, 27.5% in ccRCCs; p < 0.001). Quantitative analysis showed no significant difference between rise time and time to peak. Tumor-to-cortex (TOC) enhancement ratio in AMLs was significantly lower than that in ccRCCs (p < 0.001). The criteria of centripetal enhancement and homogeneous peak enhancement together with TOC ratio < 91.0% used to differentiate hypoechoic AMLs from ccRCCs resulted in a sensitivity and specificity of 68.9% and 95.8%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Both qualitative and quantitative analysis with CEUS are valuable in the differential diagnosis of hypoechoic renal AMLs from ccRCCs.
Adult ; Aged ; Angiomyolipoma/*diagnosis/pathology/*ultrasonography ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/*diagnosis/pathology/*ultrasonography ; Contrast Media ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms/diagnosis/pathology/*ultrasonography ; Language ; Lipoma/ultrasonography ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Sensitivity and Specificity

OBJECTIVES: The prostate specific antigen test is widely used as the main method of screening prostate cancer in Korea. Additionally, the use of ultrasound sonography may lead to overdiagnosis of kidney cancer as well as thyroid cancer. This study aimed to highlight epidemiological evidences regarding overdiagnosis of prostate and kidney cancers in Korean. METHODS: The annual trends of national incidence and mortality of prostate and kidney cancers provided by the Korean Statistical Information Service were evaluated. RESULTS: The rate of increase in the incidence of prostate and kidney cancer was 6 and 5 times higher than that of mortality between 2000 and 2011, respectively. Additionally, the age group showing the highest incidence in prostate cancer shifted from 85 years and older to 75-79 years. CONCLUSIONS: This evidence suggests that prostate and kidney cancers are overdiagnosed in Korea. Further research in this area, using national cancer registry databases, should be encouraged to prevent overdiagnosis.
Disease Progression ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Humans ; Incidence ; Information Services ; Kidney Neoplasms* ; Kidney* ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Mortality ; Prostate* ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Thyroid Neoplasms ; Ultrasonography

OBJECTIVETo investigate clinical outcomes of ultrasound-guided percutaneous radiofrequency ablation (USG-RFA) in patients with renal clear cell carcinoma.

METHODSMedical records of 34 patients who underwent USG-RFA of renal clear cell carcinoma at the Department of Urology of the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Medical School of Nanjing University from May 2009 to January 2014 were retrospectively reviewed, including 28 male and 6 female patients aged between 25 and 85 years (mean age 60.7 years). Of the included cases, 16 had tumors located in the left kidney, 16 in the right, 1 in the solitary kidney, and 1 in the bilateral kidney. There were 35 tumors in this study totally. The maximum diameter of the tumors was 1.8 to 5.0 cm (mean (2.7 ± 0.3) cm), of which 32 cases of renal tumors were ≤ 4.0 cm and 3 cases of renal tumors were > 4.0 cm to 5.0 cm. Pathological diagnosis were acquired by ultrasound-guided percutaneous biopsy after USG-RFA. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound was used to evaluate tumor outcomes at the time of the surgery, and multi-slice spiral CT enhanced scan and contrast-enhanced ultrasound were used to identify residues and recurrences after treatment.

RESULTSTreatments for all the patients were finished with short postoperative hospital stay about 3-5 days. No complications related to USG-RFA were encountered in any of the cases, such as perirenal fluid collection, perirenal hematoma, and peripheral organ damage. All the cases were diagnosed as clear cell carcinoma according to pathological results. The mean follow-up period was 29 ± 6 (range 3-59) months. Of the 35 USG-RFA-treated subjects, 32 tumors ≤ 4 cm reached the standard of complete treatment after one tumor was found with residue after the first month follow-up, and two tumors were noted recurrence at the 4 and 10 months follow-up after USG-RFA. Nonetheless, no residue or recurrence occurred after secondary treatment for these 3 tumors where pathological diagnosis were acquired again. The other 3 cases with tumors > 4.0 cm to 5.0 cm underwent USG-RFA twice or three times before reaching the standard of complete treatment, of which two had twice and one tumor had three times treatments. There was no carcinoma residue or recurrence during follow-up period.

CONCLUSIONSPercutaneous ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation for small renal mass (SRM) has satisfied clinical outcomes, with the advantage of less injury, lower complication rates and shorter recovery time for small size of renal clear cell carcinoma. USG-RFA may become the preferred treatment alternative for SRM.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; surgery ; Catheter Ablation ; methods ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; surgery ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Ultrasonography, Interventional

PURPOSE: Ultrasound (US) is highly sensitive in the detection of renal masses. However, it may not be able to differentiate benign and malignant lesions in smaller masses. The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic efficacy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for small renal masses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2011 to December 2013, a total of 85 patients underwent CEUS for evaluation of renal masses. Of these patients, CEUS findings were retrospectively analyzed for small renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cases (n=38) and angiomyolipoma (AML) cases (n=11). The tumor echogenicity and enhancement patterns and degrees were evaluated. The diagnostic efficacy of CEUS in differentiating the two diseases was compared. RESULTS: On CEUS, the findings of diffuse heterogeneous enhancement (observed in 78.9% of RCCs and 27.3% of AMLs, p=0.003), washout from hyperenhancement or iso-enhancement to hypoenhancement in late phase (73.7% of RCCs and 18.2% of AMLs, p=0.001), and perilesional rim-like enhancement (57.9% of RCCs and 9.1% of AMLs, p=0.006) were significantly different between AML and RCC cases. The corresponding sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy were 86.8% (33/38), 63.6% (7/11), 89.2% (33/37), 58.3% (7/12), and 81.6% (40/49), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the characteristic CEUS features could have diagnostic value in the evaluation of small renal mass. CEUS showed a higher diagnostic efficacy than conventional US for differentiating RCC and AML.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Angiomyolipoma/*ultrasonography ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/*ultrasonography ; Contrast Media/diagnostic use ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms/*ultrasonography ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reproducibility of Results ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sulfur Hexafluoride/diagnostic use ; Ultrasonography/*methods