CP4-1 & 2 pathology of the urogenital tract Flashcards
What is a renal cell carcinoma? What are the two most common types?
A cancer of the kidney arising from the renal tubular epithelium.
Clear cell (75% of cases)
Papillary (10% of cases)
Do males or females present more commonly with renal cell carcinoma?
Males
What age group are more likely to get renal cell carcinoma?
Over 60s
What are risk factors for renal cell carcinoma?
Obesity
Smoking
NSAID use
End stage renal failure (+ on dialysis)
What familial disease increases risk of renal cell carcinoma?
Von Hippel-Lindau
What are clinical features of renal cell carcinoma I.e. the how do patients present?
Haematuria
Abdominal pain
Symptoms associated with metastases (e.g. SoB in lung metastases)
Weight loss
Hypertension (due to increased renin secretion as increase in cells)
Polycythaemia (increased red cell count)
What are paraneoplastic syndromes?
Signs and symptoms not related to primary or metastatic tumours which develop due to protein/hormone secretions of tumour cells or immune cross reactivity between tumour cells and normal cells.
What is another name for a Wilms’ tumour?
Nephroblastoma
What is a Wilms’ tumour?
Cancer of the kidney which arises from nephroblasts (embryological cells that develop into the kidney)
What age group are Wilms’ tumours found in?
Under 5 year olds (very rare amongst other age groups)
What genetic syndromes is Wilms’ tumour associated with?
Beckwith-Weidemann syndrome
WAGR syndrome
Denys-Drash syndrome (WT1 mutation)
What is a genetic mutation associated with Wilms’ tumour?
WT1
What % of Wilms’ tumours are bilateral?
10%
How do patients present with a Wilms’ tumour?
Abdominal distension (especially if bilateral) due to abdominal mass
Haematuria
What is the 5 year survival rate of Wilms’ tumour?
90%
What is urolithiasis?
Urinary tract calculi/stones which form anywhere from the renal calyx to the bladder
What are urinary tract stones formed of?
Calcium stones (70%)
Unrated stones
Cystine stones
Struvite stoned (magnesium ammonium phosphate) aka stag horn calculi
What is a risk factor for calcium stones?
Raised serum Ca e.g. due to parathyroid adenoma
What are risk factors for urate stones?
Raised serum urate e.g. due to gout or malignancy
What is a cause of cystine stones?
Raised serum cysteine e.g. due to congenital cystinuria
What is the pathogenesis of urolithiasis caused by calcium, urate or cysteine?
Too high concentration of soluble material causes urine to become saturated. The soluble material precipitates out (+/- stasis) to form stones. This can lead to obstruction and hydronephrosis +/- hydroureter leading to renal impairment, urinary stasis causing infection +/- more stones developing, or local trauma potentially leading to squamous metaplasia and risk of squamous cell carcinoma
What is the pathogenesis of struvite stones?
UTI with urease producing bacteria (e.g. proteus)l the urease converts urea to ammonia which causes a pH rise and precipitation of magnesium ammonium phosphate salts leading to stones forming.
What is the only stones that can be seen in X-ray?
Calcium stones
How do patients with urolithiasis present?
Loin to groin (renal colic) pain/lower abdominal pain - dependent on location of obstruction
Haematuria
Dysuria if obstructed at urethra
+/- Other symptoms of complications
What is vesicoureteral reflux?
When urine flows backwards from the bladder to the ureter rather than into the urethra to be excreted
Who is most likely to get vesicoureteral reflux?
Young people (especially under 2s)
Those with a family history
About 10% of population
What causes vesicoureteral reflux?
Congenital abnormality at the vesicoureteric junction where the ureter enters the bladder at an abnormal angle leading to back flow of urine
How do children with vesicoureteral reflux present?
Usually asymptomatic and most children grow out of it.
Symptomatic if complications
What are potential complications of vesicoureteral reflux?
UTI due to stasis of urine
Renal damage due to back pressure and ascending infection