Primary ovarian carcinoid tumors: our experience and review of the literature

Primary ovarian carcinoid tumors are rare neuroendocrine tumors representing a small percentage of malignant ovarian germ cell tumors, accounting for less than 0.1% of all ovarian carcinomas and 5% of all carcinoid tumors. These tumors arise in the intestine, with the appendix most frequently involved, and more rarely from the thymus, bronchus, stomach or pancreas. Because of their rarity, the diagnosis is often difficult until the patient undergoes an intraoperative histopathologic sample examination. During the surgery procedure of excision of the lesion, some hemodynamic instability could occur. The different type of carcinoid tumors of the ovary are the insular, trabecular, strumal or mucinous type (goblet cell). Despite imagery with CT and MRI preoperatively which recognizes solid characterisitics, the differential diagnosis with other ovary malignancies is very difficult. In cases of suspicion of a carcinoid, the perioperative management and diagnostic testing are crucial to delay the surgery. Better knowledge of this rare disease and its clinical manifestations may improve preoperative evaluation, minimize the pitfalls of management, and enable the surgery and anesthesiology team to take appropriate precautions for optimal surgical management. The authors present eight cases with ovarian tumors, which underwent a radical hysterectomy with bilateral adnexectomy and regional and para-aortical lymph node clearance. The histological examination revealed primary ovarian carcinoid tumors.

Ovarian tumor; Carcinoid tumor; Neuroendocrine; Rare ovarian tumor.

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