SAVED BY THE APPENDIX - A CASE OF SEROUS CYSTADENOCARCINOMA OF OVARY DETECTED ON ACCOUNT OF ACUTE APPENDICITIS

Ovarian cancer accounts for 5% of all cancers among women and causes more deaths than any other female genital tract cancer. The majority (85-90%) of ovarian cancers is epithelial in origin and arises typically in postmenopausal patients. An ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma forms the malignant end of ovarian serous tumours. It is the most common malignant ovarian tumor and is derived from glandular epithelium, in which cystic accumulations of retained secretions are formed. Early diagnosis is often a matter of maintaining high clinical suspicion. Management consists initially of optimal surgical cytoreduction with or without chemotherapy. Appendicitis is a polymicrobial infection of the appendix. Appendectomy for appendicitis is the most commonly performed emergency operation in the world. Elderly patients with appendicitis often pose a more difficult diagnostic problem because of the atypical presentation and expanded differential diagnosis such as a twisted ovarian tumor may erroneously be diagnosed as appendicitis in females. In this paper, we present a case of a 58 yr old female, who presented with features suggestive of acute appendicitis. On examination an abdomino-pelvic mass was revealed. On further investigation, a left ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma in stage 1 was diagnosed. Laparotomy was done with removal of the left ovarian tumor, contralateral ovary, bilateral fallopian tubes and uterus.