B-Mode Ultrasound Radiomics for Differentiating Benign and Malignant Small Hyperechoic Renal Masses: An…

AI / informaticsJournal of imaging· Jul 2026

B-Mode Ultrasound Radiomics for Differentiating Benign and Malignant Small Hyperechoic Renal Masses: An Exploratory Single-Center Experience.

Fabrizio Urraro, Nicoletta Giordano, Vittorio Patanè … Alfonso Reginelli

Abdominal & Body ImagingAI / informaticsQ2IF 5.0

Grayscale variance on ultrasound distinguished malignant from benign small renal masses (AUROC 0.837).

B-Mode Ultrasound Radiomics for Differentiating Benign and Malignant Small Hyperechoic Renal Masses: An Exploratory Single-Center Experience.

Fabrizio Urraro … Alfonso Reginelli

Journal of imaging · Jul 2026 · Q2 in Radiology

Background

Small hyperechoic renal masses are frequently detected incidentally on conventional ultrasound and are often presumed to represent benign lesions, particularly angiomyolipomas.

Purpose

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and exploratory diagnostic performance of B-mode ultrasound radiomics for differentiating benign and malignant small hyperechoic renal masses.

Methods

This retrospective single-center study included adult patients with incidentally detected small hyperechoic renal masses measuring ≤3 cm and examined between July 2022 and April 2025.

Results

0.837

greater grayscale variability signals malignancy over benign angiomyolipoma

More results

Malignant lesions included papillary renal cell carcinoma, chromophobe renal cell carcinoma, and clear-cell renal cell carcinoma.

All malignant lesions were histologically confirmed.

Both features are first-order measures of gray-level dispersion within the segmented lesion.

More results

Higher values were observed in malignant lesions, suggesting greater intralesional grayscale heterogeneity compared with benign angiomyolipomas.

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

B-mode ultrasound radiomics is feasible for the quantitative assessment of small hyperechoic renal masses and may provide complementary information for differentiating benign angiomyolipomas from malignant renal cell carcinomas.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

firstorder_Variance emerged as a representative candidate imaging biomarker of grayscale dispersion, with firstorder_MeanAbsoluteDeviation showing concordant performance as a related dispersion measure.

B-Mode Ultrasound Radiomics for Differentiating Benign and Malignant Small Hyperechoic Renal Masses: An Exploratory Single-Center Experience.

B-Mode Ultrasound Radiomics for Differentiating Benign and Malignant Small Hyperechoic Renal Masses: An Exploratory Single-Center Experience.

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