Technique, complications, possible misinterpretations and indications of retrograde renal phlebography (author's transl)]

A chronological survey is given of the gradual development of retrograde renal phlebography whereby the different techniques are contraste with each other in detail. Today's method of choice is the retrograde selective visualization of renal veins using the Seldinger procedure via the femoral vein, with or without pharmacological influence and applying larger doses of contrast medium (up to 30 ml) and higher injection pressures (up to 6 kg/cm2). Indications for simple and for pharmacophlebography are specified and exemplified by means of a scheme. Possible complications and misinterpretations are discussed.     

Interleukin-2 therapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma: radiographic evaluation of response and complications

To evaluate the radiographic manifestations of the response of intrathoracic metastases to and the toxicity of interleukin-2 (IL-2) therapy, the chest radiographs and computed tomographic scans of 43 patients receiving 103 cycles of IL-2 treatment and lymphokine-activated killer cells for advanced renal cell carcinoma were reviewed. Among these 43 patients, 31 could be assessed for response of metastatic disease: Complete response was seen in one (3%), partial response in 11 (36%), mixed response in nine (29%), progressive disease in five (16%), and stable disease in five (16%). In 103 treatment cycles radiographic evidence of toxicity included pleural effusions (45.6%), pulmonary edema (21.4%), increased cardiothoracic ratio (16.5%), increased azygos vein diameter (9.7%), pericardial effusion (5.8%), and hilar lymphadenopathy (1.0%). These toxic effects could be distinguished from metastatic disease by a temporal relationship to treatment cycles. A favorable response to IL-2 therapy was significantly correlated (P less than .001) with the presence of pleural effusions.     

Urological and medical complications of renal transplant

Medical complications from renal transplant (acute tubular necrosis, acute rejection, chronic rejection) are mainly imaged with Doppler ultrasound to first exclude vascular or urological causes for renal function impairment. Once these causes are excluded, imaging features are nonspecific and imaging is mainly used for follow-up and biopsy remains essential. Urological complications include postsurgical collections, urinary fistulas, obstructive uropathy, vesicoureteric reflux, infections and malignancies. Imaging plays a leading role in the diagnostic and therapeutic management of these complications.     

Infectious complications after percutaneous radiofrequency ablation of renal cell carcinoma in patients with ileal conduit

Percutaneous renal radiofrequency (RF) ablation is a safe and minimally invasive treatment for renal cell carcinoma. The most common minor complications are pain, self-limiting hematuria, and postablation syndrome. Major complications are rare and include significant hemorrhage and thermal injury to the ureter. Reports of infectious complications after ablation are uncommon, but increased risks in patients with ileal conduits have been reported. The present report describes two patients with ileal conduits who underwent percutaneous renal RF ablation and developed infectious complications (a renal abscess and a calyceal-cutaneous fistula) despite prophylactic antibiotic treatment.     

MDCT在肾盂癌和肾癌鉴别诊断中的价值

目的探讨多层螺旋CT(MDCT)三期增强扫描在肾盂癌和肾癌鉴别诊断中的价值,以期提高术前诊断的准确性。方法回顾性分析经病理证实的11例[男9例,女2例;平均年龄(70.2±11.7)岁]肾盂癌及26例[男21例,女5例;平均年龄(67.3±11.7)岁]肾癌,所有病人术前均行64层螺旋CT平扫及三期增强扫描。分析病人的CT表现,测量并计算病人各期肿瘤/皮质CT比值及肿瘤-皮质CT差值,并采用独立样本t检验比较2组间各期CT参数值的差异。结果肾盂癌病人动脉期及实质期的肿瘤/皮质CT比值均低于肾癌病人(均P0.05),2组病人平扫及排泄期的肿瘤/皮质CT比值差异均无统计学意义(均P0.05)。肾盂癌病人实质期的肿瘤-皮质CT差值低于肾癌病人(P0.05),而2组病人平扫、动脉期及排泄期的肿瘤-皮质CT差值差异无统计学意义(均P0.05)。结论肾盂癌及肾癌的三期增强扫描CT参数存在明显差异。肿瘤/皮质CT比值对两者具有更好的鉴别诊断能力。     

CT features of renal infarction

PURPOSE: To demonstrate the different patterns of renal infarction to avoid pitfalls. To present 'flip-flop enhancement' pattern in renal infarction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective review of a total of 41 renal infarction in 37 patients were done. These patients underwent initial CT and the diagnosis of renal infarction was confirmed with either follow up CT or at surgery. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients had wedge-shaped focal infarcts, nine patients had global and five patients had multifocal infarcts of the kidneys. Cortical rim sign was seen predominantly with global infarcts. In five patients, a 'flip-flop enhancement' pattern was observed. In two patients, planned renal biopsies due to tumefactive renal lesions were cancelled because of 'flip-flop enhancement' pattern on follow up CTs. CONCLUSION: Although most of our cases were straightforward for the diagnosis of renal infarction, cases with tumefactive lesions and global infarctions without the well-known cortical rim sign were particularly challenging. We describe a new sign, flip-flop enhancement pattern, which we believe solidified the diagnosis of renal infarction in five of our cases. The authors recommend further investigations for association of flip-flop enhancement and renal infarction.     

The diagnosis and early complications of right ventricular infarction

Studies of pathology have shown that involvement of the right ventricle (RV) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is relatively common. Our experience in the noninvasive diagnosis of RVAMI and its early prognosis is presented. Sixty patients with AMI were prospectively studied: 40 patients with inferior AMI and 20 patients with anterior AMI. The evaluation was made by: (1) Clinical findings: hypotension, congestive heart failure, sinus bradycardia less than 40/min, dysrhythmia, and conduction disturbances; (2) ECG record including precordial lead (V4R); (3) Radioisotope heart scintigraphy: 99mTc-PYP infarct scintigraphy and multigated acquisition MUGA blood pool scanning. Of the 40 patients diagnosed as having inferior AMI, 20 cases (50%) were found to be associated with RVAMI. All of them were diagnosed by positive radionuclide studies, and 17 (85%) also demonstrated a ST segment elevation of 0.1 mV, and pathological Q waves in the V4R lead. The ejection fraction (EF) of RV was found to be significantly decreased in patients with RVAMI compared with the other group (mean, 27% versus 57%). Among the 20 patients with RVAMI, 16 (80%) showed various complications during the hospitalization period, versus 9 patients (45%) from the group with inferior AMI. The most common complication in RVAMI patients was conduction disturbances (7 of 20 versus 2 of 20 patients). The clinical and prognostic importance of the early diagnosis of RVAMI is stressed.     

Ultrasonography in complications of renal transplantation

The reliability of ultrasonography in detecting complications of renal transplantation was investigated by reviewing the ultrasound examination on 78 renal transplants. The results of the ultrasound examinations were correlated with all available clinical, laboratory, radiographic, scintigraphic, and histopathologic data. With the exception of one urine leak no extrarenal complications of clinical significance, such as hydronephrosis, urine leak, lymphocele or hematoma were overlooked at ultrasonography. The exact nature of fluid collections was, however, only seldom accurately assessed unless fine needle biopsy was used. The accuracy in detecting both acute and chronic rejection was high with ultrasonography and a normal ultrasonography of a non-functioning kidney was a strong indication of acute tubular necrosis. Ultrasonography was very sensitive in detecting early acute rejection but was of less value in diagnosing repeated acute rejections with short intervals and in monitoring the response of treatment as the sonographic changes of rejection disappeared slowly.     

The diagnosis and early complications of right ventricular infarction

Studies of pathology have shown that involvement of the right ventricle (RV) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is relatively common. Our experience in the noninvasive diagnosis of RVAMI and its early prognosis is presented. Sixty patients with AMI were prospectively studied: 40 patients with inferior AMI and 20 patients with anterior AMI. The evaluation was made by: (1) Clinical findings: hypotension, congestive heart failure, sinus bradycardia>40/min, dysrhythmia, and conduction disturbances; (2) ECG record including precordial lead (V₄R); (3) Radioisotope heart scintigraphy:^99mTc-PYP infarct scintigraphy and multigated acquisition MUGA blood pool scanning. Of the 40 patients diagnosed as having inferior AMI, 20 cases (50%) were found to be associated with RVAMI. All of them were diagnosed by positive radionuclide studies, and 17 (85%) also demonstrated a ST segment elevation of 01. mV, and pathological Q waves in the V₄R lead. The ejection fraction (EF) of RV was found to be significantly decreased in patients with RVAMI compared with the other group (mean, 27% versus 57%). Among the 20 patients with RVAMI, 16 (80%) showed various complications during the hospitalization period, versus 9 patients (45%) from the group with inferior AMI. The most common complication in RVAMI patients was conduction disturbances (7 of 20 versus 2 of 20 patients).The clinical and prognostic importance of the early diagnosis of RVAMI is stressed.Presented in part at the 21st International Annual Meeting of the European Society of Nuclear Medicine, Ulm, September 1983     

肾透明细胞癌与肾乳头状癌、嫌色细胞癌MRI表现的对照研究

目的 探讨MR动态增强扫描对肾癌亚型的鉴别诊断价值.方法 搜集77例经病理证实的肾癌患者资料,其中透明细胞癌(CCRCC)55例,乳头状癌(PRCC)14例,嫌色细胞癌(CRCC)8例,回顾性分析各亚型肿瘤患者MR平扫及动态增强扫描表现并与病理对照,根据肿瘤及肾皮质增强前后的皮质期、实质期及延迟期信号变化,分别进行百分比测量、肿瘤-肾皮质增强指数计算,并采用单因素方差分析和LSD法进行比较.结果 CRCC多数信号均匀(7/8);CCRCC及PRCC多数信号不均(分别为51/55和13/14)、常见坏死(36/55和7/14),PRCC最常见出血(9/14)及囊变(9/14).动态增强各期CCRCC强化程度最高,强化模式呈"快进快退",CRCC轻至中度强化,PRCC强化最轻,两者均呈渐进性延迟强化.CCRCC、PRCC及CRCC皮质期信号变化分别为(296.15±60.27)%、(79.70±18.84)%和(119.56±40.76)%,实质期分别为(236.33±58.31)%、(122.81±27.35)%和(163.06±33.91)%,延迟期分别为(216.83±46.72)%、(117.55±20.63)%和(179.72±32.89)%;三者皮质期的肿瘤-皮质增强指数分别为1.26±0.34、0.33±0.12及0.54±0.10,实质期分别为0.92±0.23、0.41±0.23及0.62±0.15,延迟期分别为0.76±0.14、0.35±0.11及0.69±0.12,各亚型增强各期的信号变化(F值分别为940.931、124.515、38.194,P值均＜0.01)、肿瘤-皮质增强指数(F值分别为798.625、78.308、73.699,P值均＜0.01)差异均有统计学意义.3种亚型的MRI表现与病理学所见基本相符.结论 CCRCC、PRCC及CRCC的MRI动态增强有一定特征性的表现,与其病理特点密切相关,在肾癌亚型的鉴别诊断上有着较高的临床应用价值.

Abstract：

Objective To investigate the differential diagnostic features of subtypes of renal cell carcinoma(RCC) using dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI(DCE-MRI).Methods The MRI appearances of 77 RCCs, including 55 clear cell RCCs(CCRCC),14 papillary RCCs(PRCC) and 8 chromophobe RCCs(CRCC), were retrospectively analyzed and compared with findings of pathology. DCE-MRI was conducted in each case after intravenous administration of contrast agent. Region of interest measurements (cortical, nephrographic and delayed Phases) of signals within tumor and uninvolved renal cortex were used to calculate percentage signal intensity change and tumor-to-cortex enhancement index, and the data was analyzed by AVONA and t test. Results On unenhanced and enhanced MRI, most CRCCs showed homogeneous signal(7/8). CCRCC and PRCC often show inhomogenous signal with necrosis(36/55, 7/14). Hemorrhage and cystic degeneration were often found in PRCC (9/14). On the cortical, nephrographic and delayed phase images, CCRCCs showed greater signal intensity change[(296.15±60.27)%, (236.33±58.31)% and (216.83±46.72)%,respectively than PRCCs (79.70±18.84)%, (122.81±27.35)% and (117.55±20.63)%, respectively], and CRCCs showed intermediate change [(119.56±40.76)%, (163.06±33.91)% and (179.72±32.89)%, respectively].A phenomenon of quick staining and quick fainting was observed in CCRCCs. Both of CRCCs and PRCCs showed delayed enhancement. The tumor-to-cortex enhancement index at the cortical, nephrographic and delayed phases was highest for CCRCCs (1.26±0.34, 0.92±0.23 and 0.76±0.14, respectively), lowest for PRCCs (0.33±0.12, 0.41±0.23 and 0.35±0.11, respectively), and intermediate for CRCCs (0.54±0.10, 0.62±0.15 and 0.69±0.12, respectively,P＜0.01). The degree of enhancement was significantly different among the 3 subtypes at the every contrast enhanced phase (F=940.931, 124.515 and 38.194, P＜0.01), so was the tumor-to-cortex enhancement index(F=798.625,78.308 and 73.699, P＜0.01). There was a good consistency between MR appearances of the 3 RCC subtypes and pathological characteristics. Conclusion DCE-MRI could distinctly show imaging features of CCRCC, PRCC and CRCC, which were related to their pathological characteristics, and these features were helpful in predicting a specific subtype of RCC.     

Urologic complications in renal homotransplantation.

Nineteen urologic complications developed in 161 renal transplant patients, 14 of whom developed cutaneous fistulae. The majority of complications occurred at the ureterovesical and ureteropelvic areas. Pelvic and vesical abnormalities were uncommon. Twelve patients with cutaneous fistulae were treated conservatively. The mortality rate in our series was 47%.