BACKGROUND:

Struma ovarii is a highly specialized monodermic teratoma composed of thyroid tissue in more than 50%. An infrequent form of presentation is peritoneal strumosis, which consists of multiple peritoneal implants of benign mature thyroid tissue. In both situations, there is no consensus about the management of those entities. In addition, malignancy of peritoneal strumosis is controversial.

CLINICAL CASE:

We report a case of a 33-year-old nulligravid woman that during a sterility study was diagnosed with a right struma ovarii. Three years after treatment, it recurred as a left struma ovarii and a peritoneal strumosis (intraoperative finding). A laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy was performed in both cases, as well as the excision of all macroscopic implants in the second one. She remained in remission after 131I ablative chemotherapy (100 mCi), but a new recurrence took place four years later, requiring a cytoreductive surgery and a second 131I chemotherapy (100 mCi). She is now in complete remission.

CONCLUSIONS:

Due to the lack of casuistry of struma ovarii and paucity of information, especially in the case of peritoneal strumosis, decisions must be individualized on each patient and must be taken by a multidisciplinary team. Cytoreductive surgery might be an option to improve the response to ablative 131I chemotherapy.