Published online Mar 28, 2016. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v8.i3.298
Peer-review started: July 7, 2015
First decision: September 11, 2015
Revised: October 23, 2015
Accepted: November 13, 2015
Article in press: November 17, 2015
Published online: March 28, 2016
Processing time: 269 Days and 7 Hours
Core tip: Renal carcinoma constitutes the majority of kidney malignancies. The gold standard procedure for treatment of renal carcinoma remains surgical excision. However, in a large number of patients, surgical excision is precluded by increased perioperative risk due to medical comorbidities. Recent innovations in the field of thermal ablation procedures and real-time imaging have accelerated the development of magnetic resonance-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (MRg-HIFU). This study showed that contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides good assessment of renal ablation created noninvasively by MRg-HIFU. The volume and depth of ablated tissue depends on the applied energy and number of sonications. Histopathology demonstrated coagulation necrosis and vascular damage in the ablated tissue and confirmed the volume of damage seen on contrast enhanced MRI.