Bronchogenic squamous cell carcinoma metastasizing to Bowman's capsule

Severe Acute Kidney Injury Due to Intraglomerular Melanoma: A Case Report

Metastatic disease in the kidney is relatively uncommon compared to other body sites. In most cases it presents as an unilateral and unifocal mass in the tubulointerstitial region. Intraglomerular metastases are even rarer, and their diagnosis is hampered by the limitation of imaging techniques to detect them. We describe the finding of intraglomerular metastases in a patient affected by a malignant melanoma considered to be in partial remission, with no evidence of melanoma progression on the previously performed computed tomography (CT) scan. This patient developed rapidly progressive kidney, failure, proteinuria and hematuria with dysmorphic red blood cells in the urine sediment. Kidney biopsy showed a marked crescentic proliferation caused by tumor cells, which even invaded the proximal convoluted tubule. Melanoma cells were also found in the lumina of the glomerular capillaries, distending their basement membranes. Our case describes the histologic and electron microscopic findings of this form of intraglomerular metastasis and reminds us of its inclusion in the differential diagnosis of rapidly progressive kidney failure.

Intraglomerular micrometastasis of squamous cell carcinoma

Intraglomerular metastasis is a rare manifestation of disseminated malignancies. We present here a case of intraglomerular metastatic carcinoma diagnosed as an incidental finding on a kidney biopsy in a 62-year-old male presenting with acute renal failure and metastatic penile squamous cell carcinoma. A proliferative lesion composed of highly atypical epithelial cells was found within a capillary loop and adjacent urinary space of an isolated glomerulus, which was immunoreactive for markers of squamous cell carcinoma. This case is a reminder that circulating cancer cells can occasionally lodge in glomeruli and appear as micrometastasis in kidney biopsies performed for the evaluation of renal dysfunction.

Intraglomerular crescentic metastases of malignant melanoma

We describe here a patient with a metastatic malignant melanoma displaying crescentic lesions in the glomeruli. A 64-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of a sudden increase of serum creatinine. Clinical diagnosis suggested rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. Renal biopsy revealed diffuse crescentic lesions containing metastatic melanoma cells. These cells were also seen in the glomerular capillary lumina and tubules, and a few scattered tumor cells were also present in the interstitium. Glomerular metastasis is a very rare entity. To the best of our knowledge, this patient is the first to be described in the English language literature showing intraglomerular metastasis of malignant melanoma as demonstrated by needle biopsy and is only the second patient with intraglomerular metastasis presenting with acute renal failure.

Intracapillary glomerular metastases in a nephrectomy specimen removed for ipsilateral renal cell carcinoma

A case of intraglomerular metastases observed in a nephrectomy specimen removed for primary renal cell carcinoma is reported. The intraglomerular metastases arose by dissemination of malignant cells into the systemic circulation via invasion of the renal veins. Intraglomerular metastases are therefore an indicator of malignant dissemination which in turn should be associated with a poor prognosis. It is recommended that in nephrectomies undertaken for primary renal cell carcinoma at least one random block of renal cortex should be examined to confirm or exclude intraglomerular metastases.

Extracapillary tumourous metastatic crescents in glomeruli of the kidney

This report describes intraglomerular tumor cell metastases, as a rare pathologic observation. Specimens of one hundred autopsy cases (each having extrarenal carcinoma) were examined by light microscopy, and in seven of them metastatic crescents were found in the urinary space of the Bowman's capsule. The capsule itself and the layer of the parietal epithelium seemed to be intact. Glomeruli with metastases in five cases were near or inside the extraglomerular metastatic tumor mass. This phenomenon must be distinguished from metaplastic transformation of the glomerular capsular epithelium.