Massive bilateral adrenal metastatic melanoma of occult origin: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Adrenal gland involvement by metastatic melanoma can be found in up to 50% of patients with ocular or cutaneous melanomas. Since these tumors are not hormone secreting, they usually present with locally advanced disease. CASE: We report on the presence of a bilateral massive metastatic adrenal melanoma in an 80-year-old, symptomatic woman with the initial clinical diagnosis of adrenal hemorrhage/carcinoma. Histological assessment of the bilateral adrenalectomy showed a massive malignant melanoma in the adrenal glands, consistent with metastasis. Following that diagnosis, thorough studies revealed no ocular, mucocutaneous or primary tumor. The presence of melanoma in both adrenal glands favors metastatic melanoma over a primary adrenal melanoma. CONCLUSION: What makes this case rare is the unusually great size of the symptomatic bilateral malignant melanoma adrenal metastasis of occult primary with wide hemorrhagic and necrotic areas, which was probably responsible for the patient's acute symptoms. The search for the primary tumor may be exigent, and it might not even be present at the time of diagnosis. Confirmation at autopsy is advisable, however this may not always be feasible.

Pyonephrosis as a sign of sarcomatoid carcinoma of the renal pelvis.

We report the case of an urgent nephrectomy because of a pyonephrosis and sepsis due to an unsuspected sarcomatoid transitional cell carcinoma, an infrequent subtype with a bad oncological prognosis. We present a 58-year-old man assessed by internal medicine for a general syndrome and weakness many months previously. A pyonephrotic kidney was observed at abdominal computed tomography in the context of septic shock, without suspecting the underlying cause. The pathology report described a sarcomatoid transitional cell carcinoma. Sarcomatoid transitional cell carcinoma is an invasive and infrequent subtype of urothelial tumors. The symptoms are often the same as other renal masses; however, in this case, sepsis and pyonephrosis were the rare initial symptoms.

Lymph node non-Hodgkin's lymphoma incidentally discovered during a nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma.

We report the case of a left laparoscopic nephroureterectomy with the incidental discovery of a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in one of the lymph nodes of the renal hilum. A laparoscopic nephroureterectomy was decided on for a 64-year-old man. Renal cell carcinoma in the kidney and one lymph node of the renal hilum with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was found. Chemotherapy was not started for the lymphoma discovery. There are no signs of relapse after two years of follow up. Coexistence in the same patient is an extremely rare condition. We review the literature about this issue to clarify this association.