Cutaneous metastatic seeding as a sequela of nephrostomy catheter placement

Kavya Mirchia; Kanish Mirchia; Ryan Thibodeau; Abtin Jafroodifar; Atin Goel; Mohammad Jawed

doi:10.1016/j.radcr.2020.11.038

Cutaneous metastatic seeding as a sequela of nephrostomy catheter placement

Radiol Case Rep. 2020 Dec 5;16(2):343-347. doi: 10.1016/j.radcr.2020.11.038. eCollection 2021 Feb.

Authors

Kavya Mirchia¹, Kanish Mirchia², Ryan Thibodeau¹, Abtin Jafroodifar¹, Atin Goel¹, Mohammad Jawed¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, 750 East Adams St, Syracuse NY 13210 USA.
² Department of Pathology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse NY, USA.

Abstract

Urothelial carcinoma and nephrolithiasis are a common cause of obstructive uropathy which can be relieved by percutaneous nephrostomy catheter placement. A rare, but known complication of this procedure is iatrogenic seeding of tumor cells along the nephrostomy tract. We describe a case of 68-year-old-female with cutaneous metastasis of high-grade urothelial carcinoma with seeding of tumor cells along the percutaneous nephrostomy catheter tract 8 months after the removal of the catheter. Given its severity, interventional radiologists should be mindful of the number of percutaneous access attempts, exchanges, and catheter manipulations in patients with urothelial carcinoma due to the risk of metastatic seeding along the percutaneous tract or to nearby tissues.

Keywords: Cutaneous metastasis; Nephrostomy tube; Percutaneous nephrolithotomy; Percutaneous nephrostomy; Seeding; Urothelial carcinoma.

Publication types

Case Reports