Pseudo-Meigs' syndrome associated with hydropic degenerating uterine leiomyoma: a case report

Pseudo-Meigs' syndrome secondary to uterine leiomyoma is a rare entity. A 50-year-old Japanese woman presented with a 3-month history of shortness of breath. Chest X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging revealed massive right pleural effusion, ascites and a large subserosal uterine myoma. She underwent a total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. The pathology was consistent with a benign leiomyoma. The ascites and pleural effusion rapidly disappeared postoperatively. The serum interleukin-6 level was 3.9 pg/mL before surgery and declined to 1.6 pg/mL postoperatively. Previous published work has demonstrated that vascular endothelial growth factor and interleukin-6 may play a role in the pathogenesis of Meigs' syndrome and that vascular endothelial growth factor may contribute to the development of pseudo-Meigs' syndrome due to metastatic ovarian cancer. This is the first English-language study showing the possibility that interleukin-6 is relevant to the pathogenesis of pseudo-Meigs' syndrome caused by degenerating uterine leiomyoma.