Evaluation of renal angiomyolipoma by traditional and modern imaging in a case of tuberous sclerosis

Renal angiomyolipoma is known to affect mainly patients with tuberous sclerosis, although it can be found in a significant number of otherwise normal individuals. Few cases have been published in which angiomyolipoma and renal cell carcinoma occurred in the same kidney. In such cases the radiologist may be asked if it is possible to distinguish between the two tumors in the same kidney. The present case report describes systemic traditional and modern imaging of huge bilateral angiomyolipoma in tuberous sclerosis. The analysis of the data implies that, although the diagnosis of angiomyolipoma can be established with noninvasive techniques only, it is impossible to distinguish between the two mentioned tumors if they coexist in the same kidney, even if all available imaging techniques are used.