Renal cell carcinoma: role of mr imaging in the assessment of muscular venous branch invasion

Purpose: To assess diagnostic performance and interreader agreement of tumor-to-sinus distance measurements and visual assessment of renal sinus fat invasion at T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging as predictors of muscular venous branch invasion (MVBI) in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Materials and Methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study and waived the informed consent requirement. The study was HIPAA compliant. A total of 186 consecutive patients underwent preoperative 1.5-T MR imaging; 188 RCCs were identified. Blinded to histopathologic information, two readers independently measured the tumor-tosinus distance and assessed renal sinus fat invasion on transverse and coronal T2-weighted MR images. Interreader agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient, Cohen k) and performance characteristics of imaging tests were calculated. Histopathologic findings served as the standard of reference. Results: Histopathologic findings indicated MVBI in 35% (66 of 188) of tumors. At imaging, all tumors with MVBI had a tumor-to-sinus distance of 0 mm. All tumors with renal sinus fat invasion at imaging had MVBI. Sensitivity and specificity for the detection of renal sinus fat invasion were 100% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 92%, 100%) and 94% (95% CI: 89%, 98%). In the absence of renal sinus fat invasion at imaging, a tumor-to-sinus distance of 0 mm was associated with MVBI in 21% (18 of 86) of cases. Interreader agreement for quantitative (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.92; 95% CI: 0.89, 0.94) and qualitative (k = 0.89; 95% CI: 0.81, 0.96) assessments was excellent. Conclusion: Tumor-to-sinus distance measurements and the assessment of renal sinus fat invasion at T2-weighted MR imaging can be used reliably to rule out MVBI in patients with RCC. © RSNA, 2013.