Metastatic Malignant Struma Ovarii and Graves' Disease: A Rare Occurrence

Malignant struma ovarii (SO) is a rare condition. Although there have been a few reported cases of malignant SO with coexisting Graves' disease (GD), the exact incidence of metastasis in these cases is not known. We report a rare case of metastatic malignant SO coexisting with GD.

Clinical examination, pelvic ultrasound, and histopathology of the resected tumor were performed, followed by iodine-131 (I-131) and whole body scan. Antithyroglobulin titers were postoperatively followed.

A 43-year-old woman with a history of left ovarian cystic teratoma with SO resected 8 years ago and recently diagnosed GD presented with lower abdominal fullness. Pelvis ultrasound showed a 13.8-cm left adnexal mass, and she underwent left salpingo- oophorectomy. Histology confirmed an intraovarian thyroid tissue housing a highly differentiated follicular thyroid carcinoma, with metastatic peritoneal deposits. She underwent completion surgery and total thyroidectomy. Histology showed no evidence of intrathyroidal malignancy. I-131 therapy was administered, and posttherapeutic I-131 whole body scan revealed a remnant disease. She was started on suppressive levothyroxine therapy and remained clinically well at her 1-year follow-up with downtrending antithyroglobulin titers.

The coexistence of malignant SO and GD is very rare, and even rarer is the coexistence of metastasis malignant SO and GD. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of metastatic malignant SO in the setting of GD.