1992 Volume 83 Issue 4 Pages 542-545
An eighty year-old woman was diagnosed as left ureteral carcinoma and right disfunctional kidney in 1984. Left partial ureterectomy, partial cystectomy, and left ureterocutaneostomy were performed and her bladder was left behind after the operation. In 1990 (72 months after the operation), she was aware of bleeding from the urethra. A bladder wash was performed, demonstrating malignant cells on cytological examination, and cystoscopy revealed a papillary tumor in the defunctionalized bladder. Total cystectomy was performed and the histological findings of the surgical specimen showed transitional cell carcinoma, grade 2, pTaN0M0.
This case shows the need for periodic examinations of the defunctionalized bladder, because renal pelvic and ureteral carcinoma tends to recur in the bladder within two years after operation and because tumors rarely develope in the defunctionalized bladder.
