THE INDETERMINATE RENAL MASS

With the advent of sonography and computed tomography, detection of fo cal renal masses has increased; in most cases, correct characterizatio n of these masses can be made on this initial examination. Occasionall y, however, the precise nature of the mass is uncertain on the initial study and additional evaluation is required to assess the true nature of the lesion. Such lesions are referred to as indeterminate renal ma sses and include complex cystic masses, small renal tumors, fat-contai ning masses, and other ''problematic'' lesions. This article describes an approach to such patients, and a protocol for their evaluation is proposed.