Ultrasound shows one thing, CT scan does not.

Ann24
Ann24 Member Posts: 4 Member
edited July 8 in Kidney Cancer #1

I had a ultrasound that showed a 2 CM mass on my left kidney suspicious of neoplasm. My doctor called and told me it looked highly suspicious for kidney cancer and she would refer me to a surgeon, but first I needed a CT. I had a CT with contrast and is showed no mass on my left kidney. Which is great news, but is a CT always right? I have a history of Kidney cancer in my family and my husband had cancer so I don't take it lightly. I don't know if this is something I should still follow or just forget. I called my doctor, but have not heard from her in almost a week.

Comments

  • eug91
    eug91 Member Posts: 471 Member
    #2

    Hi Ann24- welcome to the forum.

    In general a CT scan with contrast is going to have more detail/accuracy than an ultrasound.

    As for your situation, wow. That's wonderful news that the CT scan didn't find anything, but that is wild that you went from something to nothing like that. Yes, you should absolutely ask your doctor how this happened. Maybe it was some sort of ultrasound glitch or misread of the ultrasound or something?

    Regardless, I'm glad they found nothing!

  • Bay Area Guy
    Bay Area Guy Member Posts: 620 Member
    #3

    Hi Ann24. When I had my first CT, it was done through the hospital that my primary doc had privileges. The original CT showed an issue, but since they screwed up the timing of the contrast injection, it wasn’t terribly clear just what the issue was. They did an US, which showed the lesion, so my doc ordered another CT…..which they screwed up again. So my doc got my insurance company to agree to a referral to Stanford for evaluation and, if necessary, treatment. The urologic oncologist there verified the lesion from the US, but also had me get yet another CT, which, as eug says, gave much better detail, since the Stanford techs did a much better job. So CT’s, when done properly, usually tell a more accurate story.

  • AliceB1950
    AliceB1950 Member Posts: 244 Member
    #4

    When my tumor was first found, it was on a no-contast CT for something else. Maybe some growths are more solid than others and show up more easily?

  • Ann24
    Ann24 Member Posts: 4 Member
    #5

    Thank you everyone!

  • sherrysnorwood
    sherrysnorwood Member Posts: 2 Member
    #6
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/324715/ultrasound-shows-one-thing-ct-scan-does-not

    I have no idea if this will be seen after 2 years but I had the exact thing. A 3cm suspicious lesion was seen on an ultrasound but not on a CT (with and without contract). I am just 18 months out of treatment for stage 2B breast cancer so any lesion finding is worrisome. A metastases to the kidney would be very rare but I would still like an answer for why it was seen on one imaging and not on another. Is there an update for you? My GI (who ordered the ultrasound) and my Oncologist are satisfied with the CT finding.

  • Ann24
    Ann24 Member Posts: 4 Member
    #7
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1716377#Comment_1716377

    They felt it was just the shape of my kidney, that caused a false diagnosis on the ultrasound. I have had no problems so I am assuming everything is Ok. I completely understand your fear though. My doctor allowed me to have a second ultrasound just to give me piece of mind and that is when they concluded it was the shape of the kidney. I also did some research and found the CT is more reliable from everything I read than the ultrasound for this cancer, but for piece of mind, maybe ask the doctor is the CT or ultrasound could be repeated to see what they may have seen in the first place.

  • AliceB1950
    AliceB1950 Member Posts: 244 Member
    #8
    https://csn.cancer.org/discussion/comment/1716377#Comment_1716377

    I don't know if this will make you feel less worried or more, but I had breast cancer and kidney cancer, although mine were at the same time. Neither was a metastatic spread of the other. I've also had endometrial cancer and basal cell skin cancers. Some of us are, unfortunately, prone to getting cancers. I'm in a Facebook kidney cancer group, and there are other people there who've had more than one kind.

    I hope your CT was the accurate scan, and the ultrasound was just a fluke.

  • Doombuggy
    Doombuggy Member Posts: 1 *
    #9

    I'm just the opposite. I was admitted into Mayo Clinic for another issue and my CT scan with contrast showed a 4cm mass on my kidney. They followed up with an ultrasound that showed the kidney as normal. I'm of course, going to follow up on it, but it was all a complete shock. Praying that all will be okay.

    Thank you all for sharing! 🙂

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