A Rare Tumor Resembling Ovarian Cysts: Mucocele of the Appendix
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14205/2309-4400.2013.01.01.1Keywords:
Diagnosis/Differential, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Mucocele/diagnosis, Ovarian Cysts/diagnosis.Abstract
Objective: To show unusual presentation of a rare disease that may lead to a diagnosis mistake.
Case report: A 46-year-old postmenopausal woman went to her family physician due to a six-month abdominal pain on her right iliac-fossa. Her physical exam was normal, but a pelvic transabdominal ultrasonography showed a 12-cm left ovarian-cyst. Therefore, their doctor sent her to gynecology service, where the work-up indicated a benign cyst. Thus, they scheduled an oophorectomy. During surgery, through a Pfannenstiel incision, uterus and ovaries were normal, but the "cyst" was a tumor of the appendix, so their gynecologists consulted to surgical oncology. The tumor (12-cm) was gray, firm, with smooth surface, and completely adherent to cecum. We diagnosed a tumor of the appendix and carried-out a different surgical incision and a right hemicolectomy. She had an uneventful postoperative course, and the pathologist diagnosed a mucocele of the appendix.
Conclusion: The mucocele of the appendix may be confused with ovarian cysts on ultrasonography.
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