title: Pulmonary embolism in renal cell carcinoma with vena cava extension.
abstract: Of 18 patients with renal cell carcinoma extending into the inferior caval vein, 11 underwent nephrectomy and cavathrombectomy and were examined by pulmonary scintigraphy pre- and postoperatively. In 7 patients, who underwent non-radical surgery or no surgery at all and had died of generalized tumour, the postmortem examination reports were scrutinised. On pulmonary scintigraphy, altogether 6 patients (55%) were free from perfusion defects preoperatively. Between the pre- and postoperative examination, perfusion defects appeared, disappeared, varied in size or were unchanged. Only 4 patients (36%) had acquired new defects. The total number of defects preoperatively was 14 and postoperatively 12. Most defects engaged less than a pulmonary segment and only 2 a whole segment. None gave clinical symptoms. No macroscopic pulmonary emboli were found in any patient at the postmortem examination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Sahlgrenska sjukhuset, Göteborg, Sweden.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Henriksson
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Aldenborg
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pettersson
mesh_terms: D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior