[Partial elective nephrectomy].

INTRODUCTION: Partial nephrectomy is widely accepted as a therapeutic modality in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in patients with single kidney, bilateral tumor or deteriorated renal function. Currently, long-term survival studies have consolidated partial nephrectomy as the treatment of choice for RCC in selected patients with normal contralateral kidney.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Between July 1990 and January 2008, a total of 102 partial nephrectomy were performed on 100 patients with pre-operative ultrasonography diagnosis of renal carcinoma in 94 cases and complex renal cysts in 6 cases. The pre-operative ultrasonography size varied from 1.5 to 10 cm with an average of 4.85 cm.

RESULTS: Tumor size was correlated with the pathological stage, finding tumors in stage pT1 with sizes less than and greater than 4 cm in 74% and 64%, respectively, and in stage pT2 of 3.7% and 5.4%. Tumor size measured by pre-operative CT scan was compared with the definitive size of the pathology specimen in 93 cases (56<4 cm and 37>4 cm, according to the CT scan). We found high concordance, however in the larger tumors, there was a tendency of the CT scan to overestimate the size. A post-operative gamma scintigraphy with DMSA was performed in 40 patients. The values in the tumors <4 cm (21 patients) were 12-77% (average 43.3%). In tumors between 4 and 7 cm (17 patients), the values were 13.8-53.3% (average 37.6%) and in 2 cases of tumors >7 cm the post-operative DMSA showed 47.5 and 51%.

CONCLUSIONS: Partial nephrectomy is currently accepted as elective treatment in incidental kidney tumors less than 4 cm and it is indicated increasingly more frequently in larger tumors and of central localization. The finding of benign pathology in the anatomic-pathology specimen in up to 20% of the incidental renal tumors and low potential of malignancy of the possible satellite lesions in the remnant kidney also support nephron-sparing surgery in these tumors.