Sister Mary Joseph's nodule. Diagnosis of umbilical metastases by fine needle aspiration.

Three cases of Sister Mary Joseph's nodule (umbilical metastases) are presented. The probable primary tumor in all three cases was an ovarian adenocarcinoma. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) was used to confirm the secondary nature of the umbilical lesion in one case. The entity is named after Sister Mary Joseph, who was Superintendent at the Mayo Clinic in the early part of this century. The primary lesion is most commonly found in the genital or gastrointestinal tracts. Since the prognosis for this lesion is extremely poor, with a mean survival of a few months, surgery is usually not indicated; FNA is recommended as a convenient means of confirming the suspected diagnosis.