Eleven patients with testicular leydig cell tumors: clinical, imaging, and pathologic correlation

J Ultrasound Med. 2014 Oct;33(10):1855-64. doi: 10.7863/ultra.33.10.1855.

Abstract

We present the sonographic and magnetic resonance imaging findings of Leydig cell tumors in a series of patients, along with a brief review of the literature. We evaluated the sonographic features of 11 cases of Leydig cell tumors, including echogenicity, size, margins, and patterns of vascularity. The magnetic resonance imaging characteristics of 9 patients were also assessed, with special attention to the appearance of the tumors on T2-weighted imaging and postcontrast T1-weighted imaging. Seven tumors were hypoechoic, and 4 were almost isoechoic. Ten patients showed various patterns of hypervascularity in the tumors, combined in some cases with feeding vessels. One case presented with a single feeding vessel. The tumors showed homogeneous or heterogeneous low signal intensity on T2-weighted imaging and marked enhancement on postcontrast T1-weighted imaging. The small size of these tumors, the various patterns of vascularity on color and power Doppler sonography, and the marked enhancement on postcontrast T1-weighted imaging are considered valuable but generally nonspecific for identification of these tumors.

Keywords: Leydig cell tumor; enhancement; genitourinary ultrasound; vascularity.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Child
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Leydig Cell Tumor / diagnostic imaging
  • Leydig Cell Tumor / pathology*
  • Leydig Cell Tumor / surgery
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neovascularization, Pathologic / diagnostic imaging
  • Neovascularization, Pathologic / pathology
  • Neovascularization, Pathologic / surgery
  • Testicular Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Testicular Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Testicular Neoplasms / surgery
  • Testis / blood supply
  • Testis / diagnostic imaging
  • Testis / pathology*
  • Testis / surgery
  • Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color*