Meigs’ Syndrome and Pseudo-Meigs’ Syndrome: Report of Four Cases and Literature Reviews

Qianhe Liao^1*, Shuhong Hu²

¹Department of Pathology, Shuyang People’s Hospital, Shuyang, China.
²Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.

DOI: 10.4236/jct.2015.64032                

Abstract

Meigs’ syndrome represents a triad of pleural effusion, ascites, and an ovarian tumor, which is usually benign, occurring together. We describe here 2 patients with Meigs’ syndrome and 2 patients with pseudo-Meigs’ syndrome. Hydrothorax and ascites symptoms in 4 patients are of outstanding performance characteristics of Meigs’ syndrome and pseudo-Meigs’ syndrome. Ovarian tumors were found by clinical examination and surgically removed. Postoperatively, these signs of hydrothorax and ascites were dissolved completely. Conclusions: These cases highlight the difficulties that may be encountered in the management of patients with Meigs’ syndrome, including potential misdiagnosis of the tumor as a malignant ovarian neoplasm that may influence the medical and surgical approach, and the adverse impact that Meigs’ syndrome can have on the patient’s condition. Clinical doctors should be alert to this kind of disease under pathological diagnosis in the absence of a clear effect of chemotherapy or radiotherapy and to prevent unnecessary harm to the patient.

Keywords

Meigs’ Syndrome, Clinicopathology, Diagnosis

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Meigs, J.V. and Cass, J.W. (1937) Fibroma of the Ovary with Ascites and Hydrothorax: A Report of 7 Cases. American Journal of Obstetrics Gynecology, 33, 249-267.
[2]	Saito, H., Koide, N. and Miyagawa, S. (2011) Pseudo-Meigs Syndrome Caused by Sigmoid Colon Cancer Metastasis to the Ovary. The American Journal of Surgery, 203, e1-e3. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2010.09.007
[3]	Ehara, R., Koga, T., You, S., Natori, H., Kamimura, T., Nishimura, M. and Matsuo, K. (2009) Pseudo-Meigs’ Syndrome as a Cause of Exertional Dyspnea: A Case Report. The Kurume Medical Journal, 56, 85-87. http://dx.doi.org/10.2739/kurumemedj.56.85
[4]	Macciò, A., Madeddu, C., Kotsonis, P., Pietrangeli, M. and Paoletti, A.M. (2014) Large Twisted Ovarian Fibroma Associated with Meigs’ Syndrome, Abdominal Pain and Severe Anemia Treated by Laparoscopic Surgery. BMC Surgery, 14, 38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2482-14-38
[5]	Fjouji, S., Bensghir, M., Haimeur, C. and Azendour, H. (2014) Anesthetic Considerations in Demons-Meigs’ Syndrome: A Case Report. Journal of Medical Case Report, 8, 320. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1752-1947-8-320
[6]	Rana, V., Srinivas, V., Bandyopadhyay, S., Ghosh, S.K. and Singh, Y. (2009) Bilateral Benign Non Functional Struma Ovarii with Pseudo-Meigs’ Syndrome. Indian Journal of Pathology & Microbiology, 52, 94-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0377-4929.44978
[7]	Mostaghel, N., Enzevaei, A., Fallahian, M. and Zare, K. (2012) Struma Ovarii Associated with Pseudo-Meig’s Syndrome and High Serum Level of CA 125; A Case Report. Journal of Ovarian Research, 5, 10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1757-2215-5-10
[8]	Liou, J.-H., Su, T.C. and Hsu, J.-C. (2011) Meigs’ Syndrome with Elevated Serum Cancer Antigen 125 Levels in a Case. Taiwanese Journal of Obstertics & Gynecology, 50, 196-200. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tjog.2011.01.011