Spontaneous renal angiomyolipoma rupture. Rare differential diagnosis of renal ruptures

: Spontaneous renal rupture is a rare but nevertheless life-threatening complication in cases of benign and malignant space-occupying lesions in the kidneys. A precise preoperative differentiation often turns out to be difficult because of the formation of a hematoma. We report on a 50-year-old female patient with a retroperitoneal hematoma due to a spontaneous renal rupture for which an angiomyolipoma could only by diagnosed after the nephrectomy with histological work-up. In search of the cause, sonography, abdominal computed tomography, and digital subtraction angiography were conducted, which could provide findings suggestive of a space-occupying lesion, but because of the distinct hemorrhagic infarction could not determine whether it was benign or malignant. As shown in this case, when the radiological result is ambiguous, renal exposure is indicated from both a diagnostic and therapeutic standpoint.