Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Struma ovarii is a rare ovarian monodermal teratoma. The most common presentation is an abdominal pelvic mass with pain, traditionally managed by gynaecologists. The malignant form is extremely rare and consists of differentiated thyroid cancer. It is rare for a struma ovarii to present with features of hyperthyroidism. We present a case series of struma ovarii and discuss the role of the thyroid surgeon in their management.

Methods/Results: Case 1: A 40 year old lady presented with a 2 month history of swelling in the lower abdomen. Investigations revealed a mass arising from the left ovary. Surgical histology revealed a follicular carcinoma arising in struma ovarii. She needed a total thyroidectomy prior to radio iodine therapy.

Case 2: A 60 year old lady underwent thyroidectomy for thyrotoxicosis.Three months post operatively she remained thyrotoxic despite stopping thyroxine. A whole body radio iodine scan revealed a high uptake in the left ovary. Surgical histology of the ovary showed a benign struma ovarii.

Case 3: A 69 year old lady presented with a post menopausal vaginal discharge. Investigations showed a left ovarian mass. Surgical histology revealed malignant struma ovarii and she required total thyroidectomy and radio iodine treatment.

Conclusion: This case series highlight the diagnostic and therapeutic role of thyroid surgeon in the management of benign and malignant form of struma ovarii.

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.