CHEMICAL-SHIFT GRE MRI OF RENAL ANGIOMYOLIPOMA

The renal angiomyolipoma is a fairly common benign renal tumor compose d of various proportions of smooth muscle, blood vessels, and fat. Bec ause fat is present in virtually every case, the CT findings in angiom yolipomas are so distinctive that a histologic diagnosis may be sugges ted. In angiomyomas composed mainly of vascular tissue and muscle or i n those in which recent hemorrhage has occurred, the majority of tumor s may have soft tissue CT density values without apparent fatty compon ent (1,2). In such cases, preoperative diagnosis is extremely difficul t. In this case report, we detected a small amount of fatty tissue wit h a chemical shift GRE MRI technique, although CT failed to detect the fatty tissue.