Angiomyolipoma of the kidney - causes, symptoms, treatment.

Angiomyolipoma of the kidney is one of the most common benign kidney tumors . This tumor develops from the mesenchymal tissue, but consists of blood vessels, smooth muscles and fatty tissue, it is because of its composition that this disease is called angiomyolipoma of the kidney. The smooth muscle cells of the tumor are benign and organized into bundles and layers, the blood vessels have a fairly thick muscular wall, but weak elastic plates. In addition, the vessels in the tumor can accidentally burst - this is due to the fact that the muscle fibers grow and develop much faster than the vessels that physiologically can not grow at the same speed and do not keep up with them.

Angiomyolipoma of the kidney can be combined with any other types of kidney tumors or simply develop against a background of organ disease. Although kidney angiomyolipoma refers to benign diseases, in exceptional cases, there are situations when the tumor grows into nearby lymph nodes or into the renal vein. But, it is rather an exception to the rules, therefore, a restrained tactic of surgical treatment is applicable to this disease is fully justified.

Angiomyolipoma of the kidney more often affects people of middle and older age. Women suffer from this disease 4 times more often than men. In addition, there are 2 forms of this disease - the first (80% of all cases) sporadic, the second (20%) congenital, associated with tuberous sclerosis.

Symptoms of angiomyelipomies

• Pain in the lumbar region and abdominal cavity

Such pains arise from a hemorrhage from a tumor that occurs as a result of rupture of blood vessels. In addition, excessive hemorrhage in certain cases can cause the patient to have peritonitis and hemorrhagic shock.

• Palpable neoplasm
• Hematuria
• Increased blood pressure

Diagnosis of the disease

• Ultrasound examination

On ultrasound in a patient who suffers from a disease such as angiomyolipoma of the kidney, a homogeneous rounded neoplasm with an increased echogenicity can be seen quite well.

• CT scan

CT examination also shows a rounded growth.

• Urographic study

It is possible for an X-ray study using urographine.

Angiomyolipoma of the kidney - treatment

Patients with small tumor sizes do not need surgical treatment. For example, a patient diagnosed with "angiomyolipoma of the right kidney," measuring 4 cm in diameter, would simply be supervised by a specialist and performed an ultrasound or CT scan once a year. If the tumor does not progress, then it can not be removed.

Surgical treatment is necessary for almost every patient whose tumor size exceeds 5 cm in diameter, and who normally has a second healthy kidney. The fact is that with such a tumor size, there is a risk of hemorrhagic complications, that is, internal hemorrhages that not only cause pain in the patient, but can lead to death, due to the onset of sepsis of the body.

Surgical removal of the tumor is possible in two ways - the first is a simple kidney resection, in which the part of the kidney is removed together with the tumor, and the second in the enucleation of the tumor. Enucleation is a method of removing tumors, in which tissues of the organ are practically not affected, with the exception of the incisions for penetration to the tumor. When the tumor is enucleated (or the tumor is harvested), the tissues around the formation are stratified, while preserving the capsule of the neoplasm itself. The second method is applicable only to benign tumors.