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