Adenocarcinoid tumor of the ovary diagnosed during pregnancy. A case report

Adenocarcinoid tumors are uncommon neoplasms with dual morphology, showing components of a neuroendocrine tumor with carcinoid features and an adenocarcinomatous component composed of glands lined with mucin-containing cells, some of which are goblet type.

A 36-year-old woman had a left adnexal mass found during the second week of pregnancy. Sonography showed it to be increasing in size and eventually to become associated with pelvic pain. During the 20th week of gestation, an exploratory laparotomy was performed, and the left ovary and fallopian tube were excised. A diagnosis of adenocarcinoma was rendered by intraoperative frozen section. A staging procedure was then performed that included removal of the contralateral adenexa, pelvic lymph node sampling, peritoneal biopsies and partial omentectomy. The vermiform appendix and gastrointestinal tract appeared unremarkable. The patient was discharged. Permanent sections of the left ovary revealed an adenocarcinoid tumor.

While reports detail ovarian metastases of adenocarcinoid neoplasms from primary appendiceal and other gastrointestinal sites, this case, in the setting of a normal appendix and negative workup for an extraovarian origin, is the fourth documented one of a primary ovarian adenocarcinoid tumor and first diagnosed during pregnancy.