Clinical Experience of Nephron Sparing Surgery for Renal Tumor with a Normal Opposite Kidney

Lee, Jun Young; Kim, Jung Hyun; Lee, Kang Min; Moon, Ki Hak; Jung, Hee Chang; Park, Tong Choon

Abstract

The aims of this retrospective study were to determine whether a nephron sparing surgery might be feasible in patients with a small solid renal tumor.
Materials and methods
Between 1988 and 1999, 21 patients with radiologically detectable small solid renal tumor underwent enucleoresection, wedge resection and polar segmental nephrectomy. The mean age of the 11 men and 10 women in this study was 43 years (range 14 to 68). According to the preoperative radiological diagnosis, 15 among the 21 patients were considered to have renal cell carcinoma, 4 were considered to have angiomyolipoma, and the remaining 2 patients were difficult to differentiate as renal tumors radiologically. Among 15 patients considered to have renal cell carcinoma, 14 were found to have renal cell carcinoma and the remaining one patient was diagnosed as having oncocytoma on pathologic examination. Radiological determination of angiomyolipoma in four patients was confirmed to be correct on pathological examination. The 2 patients whose radiological diagnose wasdificult were founf to have cavernous hemangioma and angiomyolipoma. One patient with renal cell carcinoma developed arteriocaliceal fistula, the only immediate complication in this series, and underwent nephrectomy on postoperative 10th day. The mean follow-up duration for the 14 patients with renal cell carcinoma was 18.6 months(range:1-103). There were no other tumor involvement in the resection margins following the nephron sparing surgery. These results suggest that nephron sparing surgery provides an effective treatment for patients with a single, small, unilateral, localized renal tumor. Longer follow-up is suggested for more definite verification of the role of nephron sparing surgery.