We present a surgically treated case of periaortic lymph node recurrence one year after an operation for cancer of the sigmoid colon.
The patient was a 71-year-old woman. She had undergone a sigmoidectomy with D3 lymph node dissection for cancer of the sigmoid colon in January 1997, when pathological diagnosis was moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma with the invasion depth of tumor of ss, n2(+), and stage IIIb. Abdominal CT scan performed one year later revealed successive tumors covering from the inferior margin of left renal vein to common iliac artery. Metastasis to the periaortic lymph nodes was strongly suspected. Since close exploration revealed no other metastases, paraaortic lymph node dissection was made. There have been no signs of recurrence, as of 3 years one month after the reoperation. This case which is thought to be precise in gaining a relatively long-term survival is described here.