Hung-Yen Chin1, Ping-Cherng Chiang, Kuang-Chao Chen. 1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taiwan, Republic of China. chin671009@yahoo.com.tw
Abstract
BACKGROUND: An ovarian site of Salmonella bacteremia is rare. The contents of a teratoma may hide the organisms easily. Clinicians should be alert to this possibility when the patient had a teratoma with Salmonella infection. CASE: A 19-year-old woman presented with a missed menstrual period. An adnexal mass was found during a routine gynecologic examination. The patient had had gastroenteritis 2 months earlier but did not complain of a gastrointestinal problem at presentation. Exploratory laparotomy was performed for a suspected ovarian tumor. An infective teratoma was considered, but the infection source was unknown until the culture report showed a Salmonella infection. CONCLUSION: Salmonella infection is a self-limiting, febrile disease and is unlikely to involve organs other than the gut. A nontyphoid ovarian abscess became a rare late complication of acute gastroenteritis. Clinicians should pay special attention to the differential diagnosis of ovarian tumor in patients with a history of Salmonella infection, especially those with such ovarian lesions as endometrioma or teratoma and with recent abdominal pain, as noted in this case.
BACKGROUND: An ovarian site of Salmonella bacteremia is rare. The contents of a teratoma may hide the organisms easily. Clinicians should be alert to this possibility when the patient had a teratoma with Salmonella infection. CASE: A 19-year-old woman presented with a missed menstrual period. An adnexal mass was found during a routine gynecologic examination. The patient had had gastroenteritis 2 months earlier but did not complain of a gastrointestinal problem at presentation. Exploratory laparotomy was performed for a suspected ovarian tumor. An infective teratoma was considered, but the infection source was unknown until the culture report showed a Salmonella infection. CONCLUSION:Salmonella infection is a self-limiting, febrile disease and is unlikely to involve organs other than the gut. A nontyphoid ovarian abscess became a rare late complication of acute gastroenteritis. Clinicians should pay special attention to the differential diagnosis of ovarian tumor in patients with a history of Salmonella infection, especially those with such ovarian lesions as endometrioma or teratoma and with recent abdominal pain, as noted in this case.