[Batson's paravertebral venous plexus and single vertebral metastases from renal cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVES

The presence of a single site bone metastasis in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a rare clinical event. We report a single case of RCC with solitary vertebral metastasis and review of literature about renal tumor spreading in order to understand the anatomic explanation for this peculiar clinical case.

METHODS

We have considered the single case and reviewed current and past literature to describe the anatomic and functional background of this clinical situation.

RESULTS

There are rare cases of single vertebral metastasis from RCC and these are characterized from a contemporary neoplastic thrombus. The neoplastic thrombus could justify the tumoral back-flow into the paravertebral anasthomoses and so into vertebral venous sinusoids. The rich anasthomotic system that surrounds kidneys and the experimental evidence of anasthomotic links among perirenal Lejars venous system and paravertebral Batson's venous system could explain these clinical evidences.

CONCLUSION

Enrolment of para-vertebral Batson's venous system could have a major role in the RCC vertebral metastatic diffusion.