BACKGROUND: The accurate preoperative evaluation of endometrial cancer is needed to inform disease staging, but the evaluation may be more prone to error if the physical signs of advanced stage disease are difficult to appreciate in morbidly obese patients. CASE: A morbidly obese (BMI = 56.9 kg/m2) 67-year-old woman with postmenopausal uterine bleeding was diagnosed with low-grade stage IB endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma after surgical staging. She received adjuvant vaginal brachytherapy. Fourteen months after surgery she presented with an ulcerating left inguinal mass. Fine-needle biopsy demonstrated adenocarcinoma consistent with her primary endometrioid adenocarcinoma. At the time of initial diagnosis, a preoperative physical examination was negative for inguinal lymphadenopathy and a computed tomography(CT) demonstrated inguinal lymphadenopathy that was not appreciated. CONCLUSION: In morbidly obese patients, the sensitivity of a physical examination is limited by body habitus. Obese patients with limited physical examinations may benefit from imaging studies to aid early diagnosis of extraperitoneal disease.
BACKGROUND: The accurate preoperative evaluation of endometrial cancer is needed to inform disease staging, but the evaluation may be more prone to error if the physical signs of advanced stage disease are difficult to appreciate in morbidly obesepatients. CASE: A morbidly obese (BMI = 56.9 kg/m2) 67-year-old woman with postmenopausal uterine bleeding was diagnosed with low-grade stage IB endometrial endometrioid adenocarcinoma after surgical staging. She received adjuvant vaginal brachytherapy. Fourteen months after surgery she presented with an ulcerating left inguinal mass. Fine-needle biopsy demonstrated adenocarcinoma consistent with her primary endometrioid adenocarcinoma. At the time of initial diagnosis, a preoperative physical examination was negative for inguinal lymphadenopathy and a computed tomography(CT) demonstrated inguinal lymphadenopathy that was not appreciated. CONCLUSION: In morbidly obesepatients, the sensitivity of a physical examination is limited by body habitus. Obesepatients with limited physical examinations may benefit from imaging studies to aid early diagnosis of extraperitoneal disease.