Spinal cord damage as a complication of renal artery embolization in patients with renal carcinoma

The authors report three cases of complications of renal artery embolization in patients with renal carcinoma. In two cases renal artery embolization was followed by paraparesis with loss of sphincter control. In these cases nephrectomy was performed on the side of the neoplasm and neurological disturbances disappeared after pharmacological treatment and rehabilitation. The third patient was not treated surgically. Embolization was followed by development of spinal cord damage at the level Th12. The patient died of neoplastic cachexia and cardiorespiratory failure.