Embryonal Adenosarcoma of the Kidney

The embryonal renal neoplasms occurring in infancy and childhood constitute a heterogeneous but closely related group of tumors. Histologically and histogenetically they are not identical. All intermediate varieties are found, from the type containing muscle fibers, described by Cohnheim,¹to a tumor which is mostly glandular. In 1828, Gairdner²presented the first case report of a renal sarcoma occurring in infancy. Eberth³first accurately described this tumor in 1872. Other authors whose names are associated with the discovery and early descriptions of this disease are Cohnheim⁴in 1875, Sturm⁵in 1875, Weigert⁶in 1876, Landsberger in 1877, Osler⁷in 1879, Huber-Bostroem⁸in 1879, Brosin⁹in 1884, Paul¹⁰in 1886, and Doederlein¹¹in 1894. In 1899, Wilms¹²wrote his classic monograph on mixed tumors of the kidney. This neoplasm has since borne the eponym of "Wilms tumor." The term