Diagnostic Value of Multislice CT in differentiating Retroperitoneal Fat containing Masses in Adults

Abstract

Background: Retroperitoneal fat-containing masses present significant diagnostic challenges in clinical practice, encompassing benign entities and malignant neoplasms. This study evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of multislice computed tomography (CT) in differentiating adult retroperitoneal fat containing lesions through morphological characterization including lesions margins, borders, calcifications, enhancement criteria and tissue density analysis. Methods: This retrospective observational study examined 78 patients aged 18-65 years of both sexes who underwent diagnostic CT examination of the abdomen and pelvis. Both non-contrast and contrast-enhanced multislice CT examinations were performed using a 16-slice scanner. Benign lesions were followed with serial imaging at six months, while suspicious malignant cases underwent histopathological correlation through surgical excisional biopsies. Results: The cohort demonstrated a mean age of 56.35±13.61 years. Adrenal adenomas represented the predominant pathology (49.9%), followed by renal angiomyolipomas (28%) and retroperitoneal liposarcomas (12.8%). Most cases presented as incidental findings (53.8%). Benign lesions exhibited mean maximum dimensions of 2.75±1.95 cm with characteristic fat density averaging -42.25±0.35 Hounsfield units. Six-month follow-up revealed stable disease in 77.5% of benign cases. Among ten liposarcomas, well-differentiated subtype predominated (50%), with CT demonstrating 90% diagnostic accuracy for liposarcoma identification with complete pathological confirmation. Conclusions: Multislice CT demonstrates excellent diagnostic capability in characterizing retroperitoneal fat-containing masses, achieving high accuracy in distinguishing benign from malignant lesions through morphological assessment and density measurements. Keywords: Adrenal Adenoma, Diagnostic Accuracy, Fat-Containing Masses, Liposarcoma, Retroperitoneal Masses.