A giant nephroblastoma was successfully removed from the urology department

  The parents of the affected child, Xiao Xi, who had been working abroad for years, returned home and found that the child’s abdomen was getting bigger and bigger, and she was weak, with intermittent fever and wasting. Some hospitals diagnosed the child as a giant spleen, while others diagnosed the child as an abdominal tumor, but the diagnosis was not confirmed. In order to seek further treatment, the child’s family came to the Department of Urology of our hospital. On September 20, 2011, the operation was performed under general anesthesia with tracheal intubation, and was jointly performed by Professor Zhang Shufeng of our pediatric surgery department and Dr. Zhang Lihua, chief physician of urology department. The surface of the tumor was covered with angry blood vessels, and the tumor lost its normal anatomical structure when it was slightly separated, so the operation was difficult. The surgeon used gauze to stop bleeding while carefully dissecting the tissues of the renal hilum, firstly ligating, suturing and cutting the kidney tip, then severing the ureter, and finally removing the tumor free and intact. The child’s postoperative recovery was exceptionally smooth. The postoperative pathological diagnosis was left-sided nephroblastoma. He was discharged from the hospital after one cycle of chemotherapy with VCR protocol.  It is known that nephroblastoma is one of the most common malignant solid tumors in infants and young children, and Wilms described its characteristics in detail in 1899, so it is also called Wilms’ tumor. Nephroblastoma accounts for approximately 8% of pediatric solid tumors, with similar numbers of cases in both sexes and on the left and right sides, and approximately 1.4-10.3% of cases bilaterally. Tumors can occur in either genetic or non-genetic forms.  The abdominal mass is the most common symptom and is palpated at the first visit in about 95% of cases. The tumor is located in the upper abdomen on one side of the rib cage, with smooth surface, medium hardness and no pressure pain. About 33% of patients have microscopic hematuria and 30-60% of cases have hypertension.  Nephroblastoma is one of the earliest and best solid tumors with the application of surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and comprehensive treatment measures, with a survival rate of 80%. The commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs are vincristine, actinomycin D and adriamycin.