Clinic-Pathological Analysis of Meigs Syndrome

Abstract

Objective To study the clinical characteristics and treatment strategies of the ovarian benign tumor with ascites or pleural effusion (Meigs syndrome), and combined with literatures reviewed. Methods Retrospective analyses were conducted on 14 cases with Meigs syndrome in West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University from April 2011 to August 2013. Prognosis was conducted by telephone, and literatures were reviewed. SPSS 17.0 software was used to make correlation analysis between the amount of ascites, tumors diameters and serum CA125 expressions. The study protocol was approved by the Ethical Review Board of Investigation in Human Being of West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Results The 14 patients with Meigs' syndrome were from 20 to 79 years old and the mean age was (54.4±13.7) years old. Among them, there were 9 patients combined with pelvis and abdominal mass, 3 patients with abdominal pain and distension, 2 patients with cough and short breath. Besides, there were 4 patients with serum CA125 levels increased and 2 patients with pleural effusion before surgery. Among them, 2 patients received ovarian tumor resection, 7 patients received unilateral adnexectomy and 2 patients received bilateral adnexectomy and 3 patients with hysterectomy plus bilateral adnexectomy. Postoperative histopathology result showed that there were 7 cases with fibroma of ovary, 5 cases with fibrothecoma and 2 cases with papillary cystadenoma. There was positive correlation between ascites volumes and tumors diameters (r=0.535, P=0.048), while there was no correlation between ascites volumes and values of serum CA125 (r=0.319, P=0.266), and there was positive correlation between tumors diameters and values of serum CA125 (r=0.625, P=0.027). Conclusions Meigs syndrome is a rare clinical disease and is apt to be misdiagnosed as tuberculosis, hepatitis or chest and abdominal malignant tumor, definite diagnosis is only made through histopathology, and tumor resection leads to favorable prognosis. The ascites volumes of Meigs syndrome positively correlates with tumors diameters, supporting the hypothesis of tumor compression. Key words: Meigs syndrome; Fibroma; Fibrothecoma; Cystadenoma, papillary; Ascites; Neoplasm diameter