Leiomyomatosis peritonealis disseminata positive for progesterone receptor

Leiomyomatosis peritonealis disseminata (LPD) is a rare condition that occurs in reproductive-age women. The pathogenesis of LPD is considered to be related to female sex hormones.

A 30-year-old woman who had undergone an ovariectomy due to calcified thecoma at 24 years of age and had delivered a baby boy at 29 years of age showed abnormal abdominal-pelvic masses in a computed tomography scan. The peritoneal nodules were resected and histologically diagnosed as LPD. Smooth muscle cells in LPD lesions expressed progesterone receptor, while estrogen receptor and luteinizing hormone/chorionic gonadotropin receptor were negative.

LPD should be considered when multiple nodules mimicking dissemination of malignancies are found in the abdominal cavity. In the present case, progesterone may have been involved in the pathogenesis of LPD.