Rare metastasis of renal carcinoma in the frontoethmoid-orbital region - case report and review of the literature

Rom J Morphol Embryol. 2017;58(4):1497-1504.

Abstract

A tumor located in the region of the paranasal sinuses and the orbit is not usually a metastasis, but a primary tumor. Even more, renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is very rarely the cause of metastasis in the paranasal sinuses or the orbit. Up to the present moment, few cases have been reported in the literature of such an association. The aim of the authors is to highlight the rare case of a male patient presented with ptosis, frontal swelling, minor headaches and epistaxis, as the only symptoms, but in which the mass located in the left frontoethmoidal region with extension to the orbit proved to be a RCC metastasis, thus leading to the diagnosis of the primary renal tumor. We must underline the need for clinical suspicion and the importance of accurate histopathological and immunohistochemical investigations, in such rare cases, where they are crucial in obtaining the right diagnosis.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Carcinoma, Renal Cell / complications*
  • Carcinoma, Renal Cell / pathology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Orbital Neoplasms / pathology
  • Orbital Neoplasms / secondary*