ArticleTranslational andrology and urology2026
Feasibility of contrast-enhanced ultrasound as a screening tool for patients at high risk for kidney malignancies.
Article in Translational andrology and urology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
This pilot study investigated the feasibility of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) as a screening tool to identify kidney lesions in patients with rare genetic disorders predisposing them to kidney malignancies, aiming to reduce reliance on repeated computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Fifteen patients (29 kidneys) with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL), Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome, or hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell carcinoma (HLRCC) underwent surveillance with B-mode ultrasound, CEUS, and CT/MRI. Three blinded readers assessed the presence and malignancy of lesions, with results compared against clinically obtained CT/MRI as the gold standard. Inter-reader agreement and diagnostic accuracy were evaluated using kappa statistics, as well as sensitivity and specificity to the gold standard. CEUS demonstrated high inter-reader reliability (κ =1 for lesion detection and κ =0.66 for malignancy). Specificity was 100% (21/21) and sensitivity was 75% (6/8) for identifying kidneys with at least one lesion compared to the gold standard. Notably, none of the lesions missed by ultrasound were malignant. All malignant lesions identified by the MRI/CT were correctly detected [100% (3/3) sensitivity], though some lesions flagged by CEUS were found to be benign [88% (23/26) specificity]. CEUS demonstrates high inter-reader reliability and strong diagnostic performance in detecting kidney lesions among high-risk patients, achieving 100% (3/3) sensitivity for malignant lesions. These findings support CEUS as a promising adjunct screening tool that may reduce reliance on frequent cross-sectional imaging (CT/MRI) in patients predisposed to kidney malignancies. Further studies in larger cohorts are warranted to validate these results and define its role in routine surveillance.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.