Adult Wilms Tumor with Extra-axial Cerebral Extension: Case Report and Review of Literature

Abstract

Wilms tumor is very rare in adults. Even more infrequent is an adult Wilms tumor with an extension into the central nervous system.

Reported here is a case of an adult Wilms tumor in a 38-year-old female. She was referred to the JRRMMC with a 2 month history of intermittent hematuria associated with a rapidly enlarging abdominal mass and right-sided facial asymmetry. Abdominal computed tomography revealed a large mass in the right kidney. Cranial MRI showed multiple brain metastases. The patient underwent right radical nephrectomy. Pathological analysis demonstrated nephroblastoma. The patient was discharged unremarkable and underwent adjuvant chemotherapy. After 2 months, the patient succumbed to the disease.

Adult Wilms tumor presents almost similarly with renal cell carcinoma and there is no definitive diagnostic test to confirm it pre-operatively. Even though it’s a rare tumor, it should always be included in the differential diagnosis for any renal tumor.