Lattice Pelvic Kidney With Neoplasm and Cysts - Male, 78 Years

Pelvic Kidney:
A rare congenital anomaly where one of the kidneys fails to ascend to its normal position in the abdomen during fetal development and remains in the pelvic region. This condition is also known as ectopic kidney. Most remain asymptomatic and are discovered incidentally in adulthood. Due to the abnormal positioning of the kidney, it is routinely associated with a variable number and origin of the renal arteries and veins. Renal cell cancer in a pelvic kidney is even rarer making it imperative to understand the complex anatomy when planning for surgical intervention.

Renal Cell Cancer:
Kidney cancer results from an unregulated growth of cells in the kidney leading to the formation of a tumor. The most common tumor type, >85%, is renal cell carcinoma. Small tumors are generally asymptomatic but as the tumor grows they can present with flank pain, blood in the urine, unexplained weight loss, or a mass in the side of the abdomen. It is generally not known why kidney cancer occurs but several risk factors including obesity, smoking tobacco, high blood pressure, advanced age, and some hereditary syndromes increase a person’s risk. Prognosis is based on the stage of the tumor, which is determined by the size of the tumor, if it is contained inside the kidney, and if it has spread to adjacent organs, lymph nodes, or distant sites.

Treatment:
Surgery is the main stay of treatment.
• Partial nephrectomy, removing only the tumor and leaving the remaining healthy kidney
• Radical nephrectomy, removing the entire kidney and if needed adjacent organs and lymph nodes.

Other less invasive procedures such as cryoablation (freezing the tumor) or radiation are used in certain clinical situations.

Chemotherapy, Immunotherapy, and radiation can also be used depending on the type and stage of the cancer.