THE ROLE OF MULTIPARAMETRIC ULTRASOUND IN THE ASSESSMENT OF RENAL TUMORS

The increasing incidental detection of small renal masses has created a need for a non-invasive, radiation-free tool to distinguish benign from malignant lesions. Multiparametric ultrasound (mpUS) — integrating B-mode, color/micro-Doppler imaging, contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS), and elastography — addresses this need. CEUS forms the diagnostic core, enabling real-time assessment of tumor microvascularity with accuracy approaching that of CT and MRI, while the EFSUMB CEUS-adapted Bosniak classification standardizes the evaluation of cystic lesions. Elastography contributes complementary tissue-stiffness data. The defining principle of mpUS is the integration of multiple parameters rather than reliance on any single feature..