Renal Yolk Sac Tumor Clinically Misdiagnosed as Nephroblastoma: A Case Report

Meng Zhu, Chengmao Xia, Jie Yang, Zhe Liu, Xiaowen Zhao, Yaling Li, Bin Liu, Yanli Yang, Yali She

Background: Yolk sac tumor is a germ cell tumor (GCT) that occurs in infants and adolescents and affects various sites. There is a trend to treat pediatric renal tumors before a tissue diagnosis. We report a renal yolk sac tumor clinically misdiagnosed as Wilms tumor, based on ultrasound (US) and MRI.Case Report: This 21-month-old male infant was discovered to have a space occupying lesion in the right kidney. Because the tumor was large, initial radiotherapy preceded surgical resection. Histologically, the tumor was a yolk sac tumor.Conclusion: Imaging examination of renal yolk sac tumor can easily be misdiagnosed as Wilms tumor. SIOP treatment plan for Wilms tumor requires preoperative chemotherapy, which is different from the treatment regimen for yolk sac tumor. Preoperative alpha-fetoprotein could have been helpful in avoiding this clinical misdiagnosis.