Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2020:73:61-64.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2020.06.078. Epub 2020 Jun 22.

Robotic management of painful Zinner syndrome, case report and review of literature

Laura Demaeyer  1 , Serge Holz  2 , Didier Pamart  2 , Steven Taylor  3 , Michel Naudin  4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Robotic management of painful Zinner syndrome, case report and review of literature

Laura Demaeyer et al. Int J Surg Case Rep. 2020.

Abstract

Background: Zinner Syndrome is a congenital pathology due to an embryologic anomaly occurring between the 4th and 13th gestational week. This embryologic defect leads to unilateral renal agenesis, ipsilateral seminal vesicle cyst and ejaculatory duct obstruction. Most of the time patients are asymptomatic and do not need any treatment but for symptomatic cases, only surgical removal of the cyst and seminal vesicle are 100% effective.

Case: The case presented here is that of a healthy 33-year old man with symptomatic right seminal vesicle cyst and ipsilateral renal agenesis. First a conservative approach was attempted but each time the symptoms ended up reappearing. We decided to use robot-assisted laparoscopy to completely resect the cyst and the right seminal vesicle. There was no postoperative complication and the patient's symptoms improved immediately. After a 6 months follow-up the patient remains completely asymptomatic.

Conclusion: Complete excision of the seminal vesicle cyst is the only 100% effective treatment option for symptomatic patients with Zinner syndrome. Minimally invasive approaches like conventional laparoscopy or robotic assisted laparoscopy are safe and effective and should currently be considered as the surgical gold standard.

Keywords: Robotic management; Seminal vesicle cyst; Zinner syndrome.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Axial T2 weighted MRI image showing a large (49 × 33 × 42 mm) cyst of the right seminal vesicle.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Position of the six trocars.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
View of the disposition of the vas deferens (VD) and the seminal vesicle (SV) in relation to the cyst (C).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Macroscopic view of the right seminal vesicle – the right vas deferens and the wall of the cyst.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. van den Ouden D., Blom J.H.M., Bangma C., de Spiegeleer A.H.V.C. Diagnosis and management of seminal vesicle cysts associated with ipsilateral renal agenesis: a pooled analysis of 52 cases. Eur. Urol. 1998;33:433–440. - PubMed
    1. Pereira, Sousa, Azinhais, Conceição, Borges, Leão, Brandão, Temido, Retroz, Sobral Zinner’s syndrome: an up‐to‐date review of the literature based on a clinical case. Andrologia. 2009;41(5):322–330. - PubMed
    1. Slaoui, Amine, Regragui Souhail, Lasri Abdelouahad, Karmouni Tarik, Koutani Abdellatif. Zinners syndrome: report of two cases and review of the literature. Basic Clin. Androl. 2016;26.1:10. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Agha R.A., Borrelli M.R., Farwana R., Koshy K., Fowler A., Orgill D.P., For the SCARE Group The SCARE 2018 statement: updating consensus surgical CAse REport (SCARE) guidelines. Int. J. Surg. 2018;60:132–136. - PubMed
    1. Razdan, Shirin, Kryvenko, Oleksandr N., Razdan Sanjay. Robotic-assisted laparoscopic vesiculectomy in a patient with atypical Zinner syndrome presenting with large cyst involving bilateral seminal vesicles and vasa deferentia. Urol. Case Rep. 2018;18:79–81. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types