A surgery known as nephron-sparing surgery allowed three girls to save their kidneys affected by bilateral Wilms tumor. The surgeons were able to remove the malignant tumor from each of the affected organs and preserve the function of vital organs.
The work earned the medical team the “Best Poster Award”in the past “XXII Colombian Congress of Pediatric Surgery”carried out in Bogotá and which recognized the results achieved, in the three minors through the complex high-tech treatment.
“The complex thing is that the tumor appears in both kidneys and a special treatment is necessary that consists, first, of reducing the size of the tumor and then proceeding to extract the malignant masses and preserve part of the kidneys,” explains the , pediatric surgeon, the Medical Center.
Indeed, a biopsy made it possible to identify the tumors and the oncology group treated the girls with special chemotherapy and radiotherapy therapies to reduce the size of the tumors, which allowed the surgery group to remove the malignant masses, leaving no residue, and maintain the part of the kidney conserving the fullness of its functions.
According to , a pediatric surgeon, “nephroblastoma or Wilms tumor is a malignant kidney cancer that occurs in children. Very aggressive, but it is curable, if diagnosed in time”
It is the second most common type of abdominal cancer in children, after adrenal gland neuroblastoma. It usually presents in childhood (1 in 200,000 to 250,000 children) and less frequently in children older than eight years and in newborns.
It takes its name from Max Wilms, a German surgeon who first identified it. 75% of cases occur in healthy children, while 25% are associated with developmental abnormalities, such as urinary tract malformations and hemihypertrophy, or disproportionate growth on one side of the body. The tumor responds very well to medical treatment, if discovered early, with survival rates of 90% after 5 years.
The surgery is known as nephron-sparing, the basic units for the functioning of the kidney or its renal function. Before, through a biopsy, the presence of the tumor is identified, which, in the cases presented, was found in both kidneys.
Guided by the technological resources of intelligent operating rooms, pediatric surgeons removed the tumors, precisely cutting the edges, with two objectives: to remove all of the tumors, leaving no residue, and to preserve the necessary part of the kidneys, so that these maintain their vital function, which is why it is called nephron-sparing surgery.
“When the tumor is in only one kidney, the solution is to remove the organ, which is a simpler procedure. In the case of girls, as the tumor is bilateral, the solution is more complex, because in surgery we must remove the tumors and preserve a part of the kidneys”, explains the doctor pompadour.
Before, the girls underwent chemotherapy treatments, which made it possible to reduce the size of the tumors and made it easier for surgeons to extract them and preserve an important part of the organs, which allows them to maintain their vital function.
“The girls are doing very well, their cases have been followed up and their kidney function is preserved. In addition, they are free of the disease, there is no recurrence or reappearance of the cancer,” says the Dr. Villamizar.
“These cases, recognized as the ‘Best Poster’ in the Colombian Congress of Pediatric Surgery, confirm us as an institution with highly qualified medical groups and technological resources available to care for and preserve life, in this case of three girls, which gives us is enormously pleased,” said Dr. Alejandro de La Torre, scientific director of the Medical Center.