Metastasising Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder Presenting as a Retro-Orbital Mass

Abstract

A 61-year-old man presented with macroscopic haematuria. Infiltrating transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder was diagnosed after transurethral resection, and he was treated first with three doses of cis-platinum (I00 mg/m² at three week intervals) and then by radical cystectomy. Eleven months later he complained of progressive diplopia, which was found on computed tomography to be caused by a retro-orbital metastatic mass. There was no evidence of a space occupying lesion in the brain or of other metastases. The patient died four weeks later and permission for necropsy was refused. Despite the fact that carcinoma of the urinary bladder rarely metastasises in this way, urologists should be aware that it can happen.

Key Words:

• urinary bladder carcinoma
• metastasis
• retro-orbital mass
• unilateral exophthalmos