Choriocarcinoma syndrome: a case report and a literature review

A 35-year-old Qatari man presented to our hospital with a 4-month history of mild abdominal pain, weight loss, and jaundice. He was found to have central intra-abdominal mass and a single testis in the scrotum. His investigations showed cholestatic jaundice and very high level of β -HCG (1131379 IU/L). CT scans of the chest and abdomen showed a huge pelvic-abdominal mass with extensive retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy, in addition to liver and lung metastases. CT-guided Tru-Cut biopsy of the mass showed mixed germ cell tumor. Chemotherapy was refused by the patient and his family. In the following days, the patient bled from his liver metastases leading to hemorrhagic shock, hemorrhage from metastatic sites of choriocarcinoma containing tumors is named choriocarcinoma syndrome. He was transferred to the medical intensive care unit, where he was intubated and resuscitated. Embolization of the right hepatic artery was done, but failed to control the bleeding, which continued with development of disseminated intravascular coagulopathy and a severe abdominal compartment syndrome, and eventually the patient died.