Value of computerized tomography and ultrasonography in the preoperative diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma extending into the inferior vena cava.

During a 15-year period, 34 patients with renal cell carcinoma extending into the inferior vena cava were submitted to radical ablative surgery at our institution. 8 patients had caval tumor thrombus (TT) extension at the level of the renal veins, 17 had infrahepatic, 8 retrohepatic and 1 atrial TT extension. Cavography, computerized tomography (CT) and ultrasonography (US) were performed preoperatively on 34, 24 and 16 of these 34 patients, respectively. The sensitivity of the techniques used in diagnosing caval involvement was 100, 97 and 87.5% for US, cavography and CT, respectively. The upper limits of TT were clearly detected by US, CT and cavography in 100, 95 and 76% of diagnosed cases, respectively. From this study it appears that US and CT have a sensitivity comparable to cavography in the detection of caval TT. However, US and CT allow a more precise delineation of the upper limits of TT if compared to cavography. This implies that the role of cavography in diagnosing caval TT and its upper limits must be reappraised in light of the progress of noninvasive outpatient procedures.