Bilateral ovarian involvement as the only manifestation of malignant lymphoma

Abstract

A 16-year-old girl presented with a large pelvic mass. At laparotomy, bilateral ovarian tumors were disclosed and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was performed. No evidence of extra-ovarian disease was found. Histopathological examination and histochemical immunoperoxidase studies demonstrated the tumors to be malignant lymphoma of the lymphoblastic type. The patient had radiotherapy and systemic chemotherapy and more than 10 years later she is alive with no evidence of recurrent disease. The rarity of ovarian involvement as the initial manifestation of malignant lymphoma is discussed. The question of whether this patient represents a case of a primary ovarian malignant lymphoma or merely represents a case of ovarian initial manifestation of an occult generalized disease cannot be answered.