Peng XX, Cheng SA, Liang QL, Luo XB, Hong XC, Yuan GL, Zhang HJ. Bilateral thoracic kidneys combined with inferior vena cava located behind the anterior abdominal wall: A case report and review of literature. World J Clin Cases 2018; 6(13): 666-670 [PMID: 30430122 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v6.i13.666]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Qi-Lian Liang, MA, MD, Professor, Oncology Center, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, 57 People Avenue, Zhanjiang 524001, Guangdong Province, China. lianqilian@gdmu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Medicine, Research & Experimental
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Xiao-Xia Peng, Shao-Ang Cheng, Qi-Lian Liang, Xing-Bo Luo, Xiao-Cui Hong, Gao-Le Yuan, Hui-Jie Zhang, Oncology Center, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Zhanjiang 524001, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Liang QL designed the study; Cheng SA, Luo XB, and Yuan GL collected and evaluated the patient data; Peng XX, Hong XC, and Zhang HJ read and analyzed the literature; Peng XX wrote the manuscript; Peng XX and Liang QL revised the manuscript; all authors have read and approved the manuscript.
Informed consent statement: The patient was provided written informed consent prior to collection and evaluation of his clinical details and clinical images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article, which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Qi-Lian Liang, MA, MD, Professor, Oncology Center, Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, 57 People Avenue, Zhanjiang 524001, Guangdong Province, China. lianqilian@gdmu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-759-2387455 Fax: +86-759-2231754
Received: August 1, 2018 Peer-review started: August 1, 2018 First decision: August 24, 2018 Revised: September 9, 2018 Accepted: October 11, 2018 Article in press: October 11, 2018 Published online: November 6, 2018
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Case characteristics
The patient accidentally discovered anatomic abnormalities due to the abdominal pain caused by bowel cancer.
Clinical diagnosis
The patient was diagnosed with: (1) colon cancer; (2) bilateral thoracic kidneys; (3) anterior inferior vena cava (IVC); and (4) liver malformation.
Differential diagnosis
Thoracic kidney, which showed as an abnormal shadow on the chest film, may usually be misdiagnosed as a diaphragmatic hernia, mediastinal lymphadenopathy, lung cancer, aortic aneurysm, and mediastinal tumor.
Imaging diagnosis
Contrast-enhanced computed tomography shows bilateral thoracic kidneys combined with an anterior IVC and a malformed liver.
Treatment
We advised regular follow-up for the congenital abnormalities of thoracic kidneys in this case.
Related reports
The IVC develops from the vitelline veins and the three paired cardinal veins including subcardinal veins, sacrocardinal veins and the supracardinal veins during embryonic development. The failure of the complex procedure involving development, regression, anastomosis, and replacement in the formation of IVC can result in anatomic abnormalities.
Term explanation
Thoracic kidney refers to the partial or complete protrusion of the kidney into the thorax. Anterior IVC refers to IVC located immediately behind the anterior abdominal wall.
Experiences and lessons
Though with low incidence, thoracic kidneys should always be taken into consideration as one of differential diagnosis for an abnormal lesion in the thorax and intervention therapy is not always necessary.
