Published online Aug 16, 2014. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v2.i8.377
Revised: May 22, 2014
Accepted: June 10, 2014
Published online: August 16, 2014
Processing time: 156 Days and 16.9 Hours
Renal cell carcinoma is a common urological malignancy with the unique ability to invade the inferior vena cava (IVC) and to extend into the right atrium of the heart. Of those with Renal cell carcinoma only 4%-25% are found to have IVC invasion and of those only 2%-10% extend into the right atrium. If treated surgically, extension of tumor thrombus is not a determinant of survival; therefore it is imperative to determine the presence and extent of tumor thrombus in order to determine surgical approach and tumor resection. To date this has been primarily accomplished by magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography. We present a case of 61 years old African American woman in which transthoracic echocardiography provided a more accurate determination/characterization of the presence and degree of tumor thrombus and extension.
Core tip: Renal cell carcinoma is a common urological malignancy with the ability to invade the inferior vena cava and to extend into the right atrium of the heart. If treated surgically, extension of tumor thrombus is not a determinant of survival; therefore it is imperative to determine the presence and extent of tumor thrombus. To date, this has been primarily accomplished by magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography; however, we present a case in which transthoracic echocardiography provided a more accurate determination/characterization of the presence and degree of tumor thrombus and extension.