Surgical management of primary retroperitoneal tumors – Analysis of a single center experience

Five-year survival after retroperitoneal oncologic resection with and without vascular surgeon intervention

OBJECTIVES

Retroperitoneal tumor resection commonly disturbs major vessels; therefore, surgical teams can recruit vascular surgeons to prevent injuries and improve the prognosis of oncologic patients. The objective of the present study is to establish long-term survival after retroperitoneal tumor resection surgery with an emphasis on the potential impact of preventing or repairing major vessel injuries when tumors are adjacent to the aorta or vena cava.

METHODS

Retrospective case series including all cases of surgical removal of retroperitoneal tumors between 2007 and 2020 in a highly specialized hospital in Mexico City. Long-term survival was defined as 5 years after surgical intervention. Descriptive statistics, group-comparison tests, and regression analysis were performed using Stata 16.

RESULTS

From a total of 70 cases, vascular injury occurred in 30 (42.8%) and the vascular surgeon intervened in 19 (27.1%) of them, 4 (21%) were performed by a vascular surgeon with planned intervention, and in 9 (47.3%) cases the vascular surgeon was called to join the surgery due to emergency. Intraoperative bleeding was 2-fold greater in the group with an emergent participation of vascular surgery in contrast with the planned intervention group (4, 235 mL vs 2, 035 mL, p = 0.04). The regression model revealed a significant association between the intervention of a vascular surgeon and long-term survival (OR 59.3, p = 0.03) after adjusting for sociodemographic and characteristics of oncologic nature.

CONCLUSIONS

Planned intervention of vascular surgeons in retroperitoneal tumor resection may have a positive impact not only in trans-operatory period, but also on long-term survival.

A Case of Sex Cord-Stromal Tumor Originating in the Retroperitoneal Space

A 54-year-old man was seen in the clinic with the chief complaint of epigastric pain radiating to the left groin region and a predominant postprandial abdominal discomfort. Upon examination, a painless round mass with reduced mobility was felt in the left flank during deep palpation of the abdomen. His past medical history was irrelevant. Ultrasound and IV contrast-enhanced CT scan confirmed the presence of a large tumor and an exploratory laparotomy for removal of the tumor was performed. The microscopic examination of the specimen confirmed the primary diagnosis of retroperitoneal tumor (RPT) and identified it as an extragonadal germ cell tumor with a vestigial origin, which is a rare type affecting the kidney and adrenal gland. Primitive RPTs are histologically classified as mesenchymal and neuroectodermal or vestigial. These histological types are rarely found in surgical practice and are challenging to diagnose and treat due to the peculiarities of the site of origin where they develop. RPTs are extremely rare and approximately 80% are malignant and detected lately during the disease's course, commonly discovered in advanced stages of local or systemic evolution. Currently, surgical intervention remains the only effective method of treating these tumors.

Practical approach to primary retroperitoneal masses in adults

Primary retroperitoneal masses constitute a heterogeneous group of uncommon lesions and represent a challenge due to overlapping imaging findings. Most are malignant lesions. Although they are more prevalent in adults, they can occur at any age. Such lesions are classified as primary when they do not originate from a specific retroperitoneal organ and are divided, according to the image findings, into two major groups: solid and cystic. The clinical findings are nonspecific and vary depending on the location of the lesion in relation to adjacent structures, as well as on its behavior. The main imaging methods used for staging and surgical planning, as well as for selecting the biopsy site and guiding the biopsy procedure, are computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. In most cases, the treatment is challenging, because of the size of the lesions, vascular involvement, or involvement of adjacent organs. In this article, we present a review of the retroperitoneal anatomy and a practical approach to the main imaging features to be evaluated, with a view to the differential diagnosis, which can guide the clinical management.