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Summary— Three cases of urachal abscess with extensive interstitial inflammation and fibrosis are reported. Clinically, all patients had a lower abdominal mass and CT scan and ultrasonic examination revealed a large tumour located anterior or superior to the bladder. They all underwent laparotomy and had either a partial cystectomy or an en bloc resection of the bladder and adjacent organs due to severe adhesions. Microscopic examination of the specimens revealed no evidence of carcinoma and only abscess formation with extensive chronic interstitial inflammation and fibrosis were seen. In one case, residual columnar epithelium suggestive of urachal origin was identified in the abscess cavity. Urachal abscess should be considered when dealing with lower abdominal masses.

We report 40 patients seen over a 15-year period with a histological diagnosis of adenocarcinoma of the bladder; 18 patients had primary adenocarcinoma of the bladder, arising either from the urachus or from glandular metaplasia of the urothelium, and the other 22 had secondary lesions representing invasion from adjacent structures, notably prostate, colon and ovary. In this latter group symptoms related to the primary lesion were variable. The distinction between primary and secondary neoplasm is an important one and was rarely made on the basis of endoscopic or clinical findings alone. Urachal tumours were more common in females, whereas primary and secondary vesical adenocarcinomas were more common in males. The urachal tumours also occurred in a younger age group. Most of the adenocarcinomas, urachal or primary, were already advanced at the time of diagnosis. All tumours were palpable bimanually after resection and were at least T2 or T3. In the urachal carcinomas the results of partial cystectomy were disappointing because of the high rate of local recurrence and death from metastases. Primary non-urachal vesical adenocarcinoma carried an even poorer prognosis if non-radical surgery was carried out. The mean survival was 13 months. Radiotherapy was not effective in urachal and primary adenocarcinomas as these tumours are generally radioresistant. The treatment of secondary adenocarcinoma was governed by the primary site of the tumour. Radical surgery combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy appeared to give the longest survival in the colonic tumours. Patients with prostatic cancer had a poorer survival rate than those with the same stage tumour but without bladder involvement, with renal failure secondary to obstructive uropathy being the commonest cause of death.

Developmental anomalies related to non-obliteration of the fetal allantoid canal are rare. The case reported here was due to glandular metaplasia in a urachal cyst which ruptured, delivering mucinous material intraperitoneally, and was treated successfully.