[Surgery of inferior vena cava-associated urological tumor lesions]

Tumor lesions of the inferior vena cava are extremely challenging with regard to adequate therapeutic management also in advanced malignant urological tumor lesions which can be caused by malignant adhesion, impression and tumor infiltration from the surrounding tissue. This can be the case with metastases from a seminoma or testicular carcinoma (differential diagnosis: primary vena cava leiomyosarcoma), tumor-associated growth into and within the inferior vena cava originating from renal cell carcinoma or carcinoma of the pararenal gland. The aim of this overview was to summarize current clinical and operative experiences in the treatment of inferior vena cava-associated urological tumor lesions, perioperative management, individual-specific and finding-adapted surgical technique and possible outcome, including prognostic considerations from clinical daily practice and representative data found in the literature.

The primary aim of the surgical approach is to achieve R0 resection with reconstruction of the inferior vena cava lumen providing a reasonable risk-benefit ratio, which comprises i) complete resection and substitution of the inferior vena cava by a prosthesis along the previous extent of tumor growth, ii) partial resection of the vena cava wall with subsequent patch-plasty or tangential resection with primary suture or iii) removal of the vena cava thrombus after cavotomy. Particular attention should be paid to tumor thrombi reaching the right atrium which need to be extracted after sternotomy and atriotomy using an extracorporeal circulation (cardiac surgeon). For surgical planning, subdivision of the inferior vena cava into three segments, infracardiac, infrahepatic and infrarenal third, has been proven and tested.

The current development status and advances in surgical approaches as well as advances in medical technology allow the successful approach to such advanced stage urological tumor manifestations. A deciding factor is the abdominal and cardiovascular surgical expertise of each surgeon after formation of a team of surgical specialists (including urologists) and only then prognostic advantages can be achieved.