Adrenal cortical carcinoma with invasion into the inferior vena cava

✍ Scribed by Dr K. Brabrand; J. A. Søreide

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 203 KB
• Volume: 74
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0007-1323
• DOI: 10.1002/bjs.1800740719

✦ Synopsis

Adrenal cortical carcinoma is a rare, but highly malignant tumour with a short life expectancy, the 5 year survival varying from 16 to 30 per cent's'. It generally presents late in its course with flank pain and a palpable mass3.

Pre-operative localization of an adrenal tumour and its extension is important from both therapeutic and prognostic standpoints. Most adrenal cortical carcinomas cannot be radically excised because of local invasion, lymph node metastases or distant metastases, most commonly to the lungs and l i ~e r ~. ~.

We report a case of an adrenal cortical carcinoma with preoperative ultrasonic demonstration of a tumour thrombus in the inferior vena cava, propagated via the adrenal vein.