[Partial nephrectomy in nephroblastoma]

The authors analyse their 18 partial nephrectomies performed on 12 children with either a bilateral or a Wilms' tumor of a single remaining kidney: 13 affected kidneys were otherwise normal, the 5 others were sites of a diffuse nephroblastomatosis. The short term results are good (one technical failure only). The long term results were excellent for Wilms' tumors on otherwise healthy kidneys (no recurrence), as opposed to kidneys with diffuse nephroblastomatosis, where invariable tumor recurrence was observed. Because of the low risk of tumor development in the controlateral healthy kidney, and the established value of classical total nephrectomy, the authors, however, consider partial nephrectomy only in highly selected cases of unilateral nephroblastoma.