[Angiomyolipoma of the kidney. 2 new cases of symptomatic tumors]

The authors present two observations of angiomyolipoma of the kidney one of which bilateral and multicentric. They analyse the clinical manifestations and the morphologic features of these tumors in a review of the litterature and insist on the frequency and the seriousness of hemorragic complications that may result in medical emergencies. The histogenesis of these hamartomas is considered and the underlying genetic disorders are discussed. The surgical treatment is discussed in considering the possible bilateral localizations and the common age incidence with Grawitz's tumor. The authors admit the benign nature of angiomyolipomas and give little credit to frozen-section diagnosis because of the frequent occurence of cellular atypias in these tumors.