Comparison of Iodine Quantification and Conventional Attenuation Measurements for Differentiating Small, Truly Enhancing Renal Masses From High-Attenuation Nonenhancing Renal Lesions With Dual-Energy CT.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study is to determine whether iodine quantification techniques from contrast-enhanced dual-energy CT (DECT) data allow equal differentiation of small enhancing renal masses from high-attenuation (> 20 HU of unenhanced attenuation) nonenhancing lesions, compared with conventional attenuation measurements. MATERIALS AND METHODS. A total of 220 nonconsecutive patients (mean [± SD] age, 66 ± 13 years; 130 men and 90 women) with 265 high-attenuation renal lesions (mean attenuation, 54 ± 33 HU; 91 enhancing lesions) were included. Each patient underwent single-energy unenhanced CT followed by DECT during the nephrographic phase using one of four different high-en…