Plasmacytoid variant of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder manifesting as bilateral ureteral and small bowel obstruction

Alex Carsel; Chris Levy; Ashwin M Raghavan; Jorge A Ortiz; Puneet Sindhwani; Firas G Petros

doi:10.1016/j.eucr.2020.101415

Plasmacytoid variant of urothelial carcinoma of the bladder manifesting as bilateral ureteral and small bowel obstruction

Urol Case Rep. 2020 Sep 16:33:101415. doi: 10.1016/j.eucr.2020.101415. eCollection 2020 Nov.

Authors

Alex Carsel¹, Chris Levy¹, Ashwin M Raghavan^{1

2}, Jorge A Ortiz^{1

3}, Puneet Sindhwani^{1

2}, Firas G Petros^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, Toledo, OH, USA.
² Department of Urology, Toledo, Ohio, USA.
³ Department of Surgery, Toledo, Ohio, USA.

Abstract

Plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma (PUC) is a rare variant of bladder cancer characterized by distinct histopathology and advanced stage at diagnosis. Multimodal treatment is usually indicated. We present a case of PUC causing bilateral ureteral obstruction with subsequent renal failure followed shortly by malignant small bowel obstruction, demonstrating the need for a high degree of clinical suspicion in diagnosis of this aggressive subtype. Moreover, the local invasiveness of the disease cannot be understated, given that it can rapidly spread with little radiologic evidence of progression until it is at an advanced stage.

Keywords: Bladder; Plasmacytoid urothelial carcinoma; Small bowel obstruction; Ureteral obstruction.

Publication types

Case Reports