[Spontaneous rupture of renal cell carcinoma: a case report]

A 74-year-old man with severe right flank pain and hypochondralgia, was admitted to a hospital where he was found to have an abnormality of the right kidney on computed tomographic (CT) scan. He was referred to our department for further examination and treatment on the next day. Spontaneous rupture of the right renal cell carcinoma was mostly suspected from preoperative clinical findings obtained by ultrasonography. CT scan and angiography. Extravasation was not recognized on angiography. We chose emergent transcatheter arterial embolization prior to radical nephrectomy. The surgical specimen contained a solid and yellowish mass invading into the renal pelvis. Subcapsular rupture was identified. Histopathological diagnosis was renal cell carcinoma consisting of invasive growth of highly atypical epithelial cells with a sarcomatous pattern, and the tumor cells were present in the renal pelvis. He died of lung cancer 26 months after the operation.