[A comparison of echography and computer tomography for the diagnosis of space-occupying lesions in the kidney (author's transl)].

One hundred and three patients with a suspected space-occupying lesion in the kidney were examined by one or both of the above methods. The findings were compared with the histological (45 cases) or final clinical diagnosis (58 cases). In the group in whom the diagnosis was confirmed at operation or histologically, echography proved correct in 41 patients and computer tomography in 44. The latter method was able to show metastatic deposits in lymph nodes, in the liver, the supra-renals and the other kidney, as well as tumour thrombi in the vena cava in patients with tumours. In the group diagnosed only clinically, where the diagnosis had not been confirmed by operation or biopsy, the striking feature was the inaccuracy of echography in the demonstration of small cysts and the uncertainty in differentiation fluid from solid lesions for the exclusion of tumours.