Open AccessBilateral ovarian actinomycosis masquerading as ovarian malignancy; without any history of intra-uterine contraceptive device
Author(s) -
Ghante Nagaraj Srinivas,
Anitha B. Chalageri,
Arnab Gupta,
Manjula Vijayanand
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
medical journal of dr. d y patil university/medical journal of dr. d.y. patil university
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2278-7119
pISSN - 0975-2870
DOI - 10.4103/0975-2870.118295
Subject(s) - actinomycosis , actinomyces israelii , medicine , malignancy , differential diagnosis , actinomyces , pelvic infection , pelvic inflammatory disease , ovarian tumor , radiology , ovarian cancer , gynecology , pathology , cancer , population , biology , environmental health , family planning , bacteria , research methodology , genetics
Actinomycosis in the pelvic region is an uncommon diagnosis. This infection is caused by Actinomyces israelii, a gram-positive anaerobic saprophyte bacterium that is a normal inhabitant of the upper intestinal tract in humans. Pelvic actinomycosis is difficult to diagnose pre-operatively and is diagnosed, in most cases, accidentally. Actinomycosis can mimic pelvic and abdominal malignancies. A case report of a 35-year-old female patient with a fixed pelvic mass is presented. Despite the broad use of tumor markers, sonography and computerized tomography, the differentiation between benign and malignant pelvic masses is still a clinical challenge. Accurate differential diagnosis is necessary because the treatment strategies vary greatly. A case of actinomycotic inflammatory disease, which was misdiagnosed as an advanced ovarian cancer, is reported