ABDOMINAL ACTINOMYCOSIS

Twelve years after adnexectomy, performed for actinomycosis of the left ovary, a 32-year-old woman developed abdominal and back pain. A solid tumour was palpated in the left lower abdomen. Colon contrast examination revealed a subtotal stenosis in the sigmoid colon, while sonography showed a complete stenosis of the left ureter with left hydronephrosis. Relaparotomy demonstrated a stone-hard tumour at the rectosigmoid junction, which involved the right ovary and ureter, as well as having infiltrated the retroperitoneum, predominantly on the left. After resection of the sigmoid colon, uterus and right ovary, as well as of the ureteric stenosis with reanastomosis, the further course was without complication. Histological examination confirmed actinomycosis of the left ovary, sigmoid colon and pelvic mesocolon. Therapy with amoxycillin, 500 mg three times daily, was started. - As the patient had worn an intrauterine pessary for several years, primary infection of the uterus with spread into the abdominal cavity via tube and ovaries is likely to have been the course of events. The recurrence was probably caused by reactivation of residual antinomycetes in the retroperitoneum and pelvic mesocolon.