Hydrothorax, ascites and an abdominal mass: not always signs of a malignancy - Three cases of Meigs' syndrome

This case report presents three cases of Meigs' syndrome: a benign ovarian tumor with ascites and a hydrothorax. After removal of the ovarian tumor, the symptoms resolved and the patients became asymptomatic. In daily practice, Meigs' syndrome is at first sight often mistaken for ovarian cancer. With this case report we would like to emphasize that the clinical presentation of an ovarian tumor might be ovarian cancer, but can masquerade as something uncommon like Meigs' syndrome. In a time span of two years we encountered three cases.