Paraneoplastic Erythropoiesis in Patients With Ovarian Sertoli Leydig Cell Tumors: Retrospective Study From Tertiary...

To study the clinical, paraneoplastic hematological presentation of Sertoli Leydig cell tumor patients. This retrospective study involved women with Sertoli Leydig cell tumors treated at JIPMER from 2018 to 2021. We reviewed the hospital registry for the Sertoli Leydig cell tumor among all the ovarian tumors being treated in the department of obstetrics and gynecology. We retrieved the datasheets of patients with Sertoli Leydig cell tumor and studied their clinical and hematological presentation, their management, complications, and follow-up. We had 5 patients of Sertoli Leydig cell tumor of 390 ovarian tumors operated during the study period. The mean age at presentation was 31.6 years. All 5 patients had hirsutism and menstrual irregularity. One patient presented with symptoms of polycythemia along with these complaints. Elevated serum testosterone was seen in all (mean being 688 ng/ml). Mean preoperative hemoglobin was 15.84%, and mean hematocrit was 50.14%. Fertility-sparing surgery was performed in 3 of them and the rest had complete surgery. All patients were in Stage IA. Histologically, one had Pure Leydig cell, three had steroid cell tumor not otherwise specified and one was mixed Sertoli Leydig cell tumor. After the operation, the hematocrit and testosterone levels came down to the normal range. The virilizing manifestations regressed over 4-6 months. With a follow-up period ranging from 1 to 4 years, all 5 patients are alive, one patient had a disease recurrence in the ovary after 1 year of primary surgery. She is disease-free following the second surgery. The rest of the patients had no disease recurrence and are disease-free following surgery. Virilizing ovarian tumors can have paraneoplastic polycythemia which needs to be looked into while evaluating these patients. Similarly, while evaluating polycythemia in young females, an androgen-secreting tumor has to be ruled out as it is reversible and completely treatable.