[Renal artery embolization in the treatment of middle-aged and elderly patients with kidney cancer].

Renal artery embolization (RAE) was carried out in 24 renal carcinoma patients aged 60-81. Nineteen of them underwent nephrectomy. Six lethal outcomes were due to RAE complications, of which renal failure and/or purulent inflammation were most frequent (37.5% and 29.2%, respectively). Post-nephrectomy patients as compared to those with prior RAE developed postoperative complications, acute renal failure or aggravation of chronic renal failure 1.4, 1.9, 2.5 times less frequently, respectively. The lethality among them was also less (1.4 times). A 5-year survival for those operated after RAE reached 61.7%, without RAE 30.6%. Despite better results of operative treatment following RAE, it is recommended only for correction of macrohematuria in failure of conservative hemostatic therapy because of high risk of life threatening complications in senile patients. It may be also used in contraindications to surgery or in need of preoperative preparation in the presence of associated diseases.