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A case report of retroaortic left renal vein with tumor thrombus of renal cell carcinoma

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Abstract

A 75-year-old woman was referred to our department for evaluation of a left renal tumor. Computed tomography and other imaging studies demonstrated a left renal mass and tumor extension into the left renal vein passing caudally behind the aorta. We clinically diagnosed the tumor as renal cell carcinoma (RCC) associated with a retroaortic left renal vein thrombus, and performed a radical nephrectomy. Pathological examination of the surgical specimen showed a grade 2, clear cell carcinoma with a renal vein thrombus and negative surgical margin. Retroaortic left renal vein is a rare anomaly with a prevalence of 1.8–2.4%. RCC associated with a retroaortic left renal vein thrombus is rarer still. To our knowledge, this is only the third case report to describe an RCC associated with a tumor thrombus in the retroaortic left renal vein.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, National Defense Medical College, 3-2 Namiki, Tokorozawa, Saitama, 359-8513, Japan

    Hideo Otsuki, Kenji Kuroda, Takeo Kosaka, Keiichi Ito, Masamichi Hayakawa & Tomohiko Asano

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  1. Hideo Otsuki
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  2. Kenji Kuroda
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  3. Takeo Kosaka
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  4. Keiichi Ito
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  5. Masamichi Hayakawa
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  6. Tomohiko Asano
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hideo Otsuki.

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Otsuki, H., Kuroda, K., Kosaka, T. et al. A case report of retroaortic left renal vein with tumor thrombus of renal cell carcinoma. Clin Exp Nephrol 15, 438–441 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10157-011-0410-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10157-011-0410-8

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