Computed tomography in the detection of small renal cell carcinoma.

Small renal cell carcinoma, less than 3 cm in diameter, was detected with computed tomography (CT) in three patients. The patients had no urological complaints and the carcinomas were discovered by chance during tests made for liver diseases. After making a comparison study between these three cases and a false-positive case, dynamic CT images were evaluated to be beneficial for detection of the tumors: dense staining in the early phase which became less dense than normal parenchyma in the late nephrogram phase.