Is there a place for conservative surgery in the treatment of renal carcinoma?
Since 1981, 31 patients have undergone conservative surgery for malignant renal tumours and have been followed up for at least 2 years. The techniques included enucleation or resection (wedge resection or partial nephrectomy). In 10 patients the indications for kidney-sparing surgery were absolute, while in the remainder the conservative surgical approach was a deliberate choice. The tumours varied in diameter from 1.3 to 12 cm and no metastases were detected on pre-operative screening. One patient died post-operatively from myocardial infarction. In the remaining 30 there were no local recurrences. Two patients died from skeletal metastases (1 with bilateral malignancy) and 2 underwent surgery in the post-operative period for haemorrhagic complications. The efficacy of conservative surgery in the local control of renal cancer is an argument in favour of its wider use.
Van Poppel
H
H
Department of Urology, University Hospitals, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium.
Claes
H
H
Willemen
P
P
Oyen
R
R
Baert
L
L
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009392:Nephrectomy / Q000379:methods; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011379:Prognosis