Renal medullary carcinoma with an ophthalmic metastasis

Renal medullary carcinoma (RMC) is a rare, aggressive primary renal malignancy that classically occurs in adolescent males with sickle cell trait and universally presents with metastatic disease at presentation. We report a case of medullary carcinoma in a young man with likely ophthalmic metastasis. We also review relevant literature available to date. The patient is a 20-year-old African-American male with a past medical history significant to for sickle cell trait who presented to the University Medical Center with cough and the right eye pain for 1 month as well as painless gross hematuria for 1 week. A chest and abdominal computed tomography showed a 7 cm hypodense right renal mass with bilateral hilar adenopathy, and multiple bilateral pulmonary nodules. A renal biopsy was performed and showed RMC. Ophthalmic exam revealed the right retinal hemorrhage concerning for a metastatic lesion. Palliative chemotherapy was offered to the patient, however, he and his family chose to enroll in hospice care considering his poor prognosis. He subsequently passed away 33 days after presentation. To our knowledge, there is only one other case of ophthalmic metastasis in a patient with metastatic RMC. Thus, we present this case to contribute to current literature regarding orbital metastasis in this largely fatal disease.