[Magnetic resonance in the diagnosis, characterization, and assessment of renal carcinoma extension].
Many authors discussed the reliability of MR imaging in the diagnosis of small tumoral masses (less than 1.5 cm) affecting the kidney, and stressed its low diagnostic power. On the other hand, MR imaging is a useful technique in the study of renal masses, for its capability in the differentiation of adipose tissue (angiomyolipomas), fluid content (cystic lesions), parenchymatous tissues (neoplastic lesions). The distinction between malignant and benign masses is often impossible on the basis of MR except in the cases of invasion of the adjacent structures. MR imaging is, at present, the most accurate method in the staging of neoplastic masses of the kidney.