Patterns of abdominal relapse and role of sonography in Wilms tumor

This study characterizes the patterns of abdominal recurrence of Wilms tumor and describes the role of sonography in its detection. Twelve patients who had initial tumor recurrence in the abdomen were evaluated. Five patients had recurrence in the kidney; all had nephrogenic rests detected by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging but not by sonography. The remaining 7 patients had recurrence in the peritoneum (4), the nephrectomy site (2), or the regional lymph nodes (1); tumor spillage had occurred in five of these patients. Four recurrences were detected during therapy, and eight within 3 years after completion of therapy. Seven of the 12 recurrences were first detected by sonography. All 11 sonograms obtained at the time of relapse showed tumor recurrence. Nine patients died a median of 10 months after relapse. The results suggest that regular sonographic surveillance for 3 years after therapy is likely to reveal most abdominal recurrences. Supplementation with CT or MR imaging is indicated for detection of nephrogenic rests.