RESUMO
One of the most common cancers amongst women is breast cancer. The most common metastatic sites are the lymph nodes, lungs, liver, and bone. Metastatic spread to the urinary bladder is rare, and this case, as far as we are aware, is the first reported in the Caribbean. This patient developed urinary symptoms 4 years after her diagnosis of breast cancer. CT imaging showed thickening of the bladder wall, and histology confirmed metastatic breast cancer. As imaging modalities and cancer treatment improve, patients live longer with metastatic disease, and we will potentially see more unusual presentations of metastatic disease.
RESUMO
Introducción: El diagnóstico eficaz y precoz del cáncer vesical es de extrema importancia para lograr un tratamiento potencialmente curativo y, con ello, elevar la supervivencia de los afectados. Objetivo: Describir los hallazgos ecográficos y tomográficos en pacientes con tumores malignos de vejiga. Métodos: Se efectuó un estudio observacional, descriptivo y transversal de 250 pacientes con diagnóstico confirmado de cáncer vesical a los cuales se les había realizado previamente ecografía y tomografía en el Servicio de Imagenología del Hospital Provincial Clínico-Quirúrgico Docente Saturnino Lora de Santiago de Cuba, desde enero de 2013 hasta diciembre de 2017. Resultados: En la serie resultaron más frecuentes los hombres mayores de 60 años. Al analizar los hallazgos ecográficos se obtuvo un predominio de la estructura ecogénica, así como de los tumores bien definidos, mayores de 3 cm y vascularizados, además de otras características como calcificaciones, necrosis, adenopatías e infiltración en estructuras vecinas. En la tomografía se observaron mayormente la estructura mixta, los tumores captantes y prácticamente las mismas características encontradas en la ecografía, de manera que hubo una coincidencia casi absoluta entre ambos medios diagnósticos. Conclusiones: La imagen ecográfica del cáncer de vejiga es ecogénica y mixta en comparación con la tomográfica, lo que posibilita un diagnóstico indiscutible de la enfermedad; no obstante, la tomografía perfila las características y los detalles coherentes en correspondencia con los hallazgos aportados por otras técnicas imagenológicas.
Introduction: The effective and early diagnosis of vesical cancer is of extreme importance to achieve a potentially healing treatment and, with it, to elevate the survival in those affected. Objective: To describe the echographic and tomographic findings in patients with bladder malignancies. Methods: An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study of 250 patients with confirmed diagnosis of vesical cancer was carried out to whom had been previously performed echography and tomography in the Imagenology Service of the Saturnino Lora Teaching Clinical-Surgical Provincial Hospital in Santiago de Cuba, from January, 2013 to December, 2017. Results: In the series men over 60 years were more frequent. When analyzing the echographic findings there was prevalence of the echogenic structure, as well as of the bigger than 3 cm and vascularized very well defined tumors, besides other characteristics as calcifications, necrosis, adenopathies and infiltration in close structures. In the tomography the mixed image, captant tumors and practically the same characteristics found in the echography were mostly observed, so that there was an almost absolute coincidence between both diagnostic means. Conclusions: The echographic image of bladder cancer is echogenic and mixed in comparison with the tomographic image, what facilitates an unquestionable diagnosis of the disease; nevertheless, the tomography profiles the characteristics and the coherent details in correspondence with the findings contributed by other imaging techniques.