MALIGNANT RENAL NEOPLASMS IN CHILDREN

Abstract

The Wilms tumor is the most common malignant growth affecting the kidneys of infants and children. It is estimated that tumors of the kidney comprise approximately 25 per cent of all malignant tumors occurring in childhod. In 1828, Gairdner¹ reported the first case of sarcoma of the kidney in an infant. Eberth² in 1872 first described this type of tumor and suggested that it is derived from remnants of the wolffian body. In 1875 Cohnheim³ and in 1886 Ribbert⁴ stated that the tumor has its beginning in aberrant germ plasma from the primitive segments. Weigert⁵ in 1876 stated the belief that the tumor is a congenital adenocarcinoma of the kidney, probably derived from misplaced cell rests. Osler⁶ in 1879 described 2 cases of striated myosarcoma of the kidney, but he offered no theory as to the origin of the growths. Brosin⁷ in 1884