ABSTRACT
Objective: To explore the clinicopathological features and the diagnostic value of the CT scan in multilocular cystic renal neoplasm of low malignant potential (MCRNLMP) and cystic nephroma (CN). Methods: The clinical data of 12 patients with CN and 20 patients with MCRNLMP, confirmed by pathology at the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University and Jingzhou Central Hospital from Janu-ary 2000 to March 2019, were retrospectively analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to analyze the feature of contrast-enhanced CT images of the tumors, and the immunophenotypes of the tumors were observed by immunohisto-chemistry. Results: There were statistically significant differences between MCRNLMP and CN in terms of thickness of the cyst wall and partition, number of soft-tissue enhancing masses, peak intensity of enhancement, and the Bosniak classification (P<0.05). Based on ROC curve analyses, when the thickness of the capsule wall and partition was greater than 2.25mm, the number of enhanced high-density lesions was greater than 1, and the peaking intensity of fortification was above the moderate level in the diagnosis of CRNLMP. The areas under the curve of the three indexes were 0.879, 0.800 and 0.838, which can be used as the best diagnostic criterion for MCRNLMP. Immunophenotyping revealed that MCRNLMP characteristically expressed the renal cell carcinoma (RCC) marker, and CN characteristically expressed the estrogen receptor(ER) and progesterone receptor(PR). Conclusions: The cyst wall and septal thickness, number of soft-tissue enhancing masses, and peak intensity of enhancement show a higher diagnostic value in differentiating MCRN-LMP and CN. The precise diagnosis relies on the pathological and immunohistochemical examination.