Renal angiomyolipoma – a short review of the literature

Renal angiomyolipomas (AML) are the most common benign renal tumors. By containing an important amount of fat tissue they are easily identifiable on CT and MRI images, thus no biopsy should be needed for a diagnosis. However there is a small percentage of AMLs that have very little fat tissue and are very difficult to differentiate from renal cell carcinoma. Along fat tissue, they also contain smooth muscle and blood vessels. Renal AMLs can occur as a sporadic finding, or more frequently in association with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) or pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). These tumors are usually an incidental finding on imaging tools, but sometimes a serious presentation is rupture and hemorrhage, which can easily evolve to shock. Therapeutical management vary from active surveillance to surgical removal, and it needs to be individualized for every patient and according to the clinical presentation.