A multicystic tumor causing intermittent pain in a young man

Our plain-English summary of A multicystic tumor causing intermittent pain in a young man, by E.V. Madsen, I.H. de Hingh (Gastroenterology, 2014).

The study

• Authors: E.V. Madsen, I.H. de Hingh
• Journal: Gastroenterology
• Published: 2014;147(6):e11-2
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 1 article, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This was a short case report, published as an image quiz, about one 31-year-old man in the Netherlands who had intermittent pain in the right side of his abdomen for one year. The article did not mention asbestos or any other occupational or environmental exposure. The only past event noted was an accident 15 years earlier in which he was hit in the right side. Ultrasound showed a well-defined, partly cystic mass. CT showed a lesion near the right colon. MRI showed a lesion divided by internal walls that did not invade surrounding tissue. The pathologist judged a needle biopsy most likely not representative. During exploratory surgery the surgeons found a multicystic tumor, and final pathology showed a benign multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma. At a specialist center he received hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (heated chemotherapy given inside the abdomen). Pathology showed that the 7 cm tumor had been fully removed, and he recovered well. The authors wrote that a firm diagnosis before surgery is challenging and is difficult to establish from biopsies alone.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: case report (single patient, image-quiz format)
• Who was studied: one 31-year-old man treated at hospitals in the Netherlands, with intermittent right-sided abdominal pain for 1 year
• Exposure: No asbestos or other occupational or environmental exposure is mentioned. The only history noted is an accident 15 years earlier in which he was hit in the right side.
• Main results:
  • Ultrasound showed a well-defined, partly cystic mass. CT showed a lesion near the right colon. MRI showed a septated lesion without infiltration of surrounding tissue.
  • The pathologist concluded that the ultrasound-guided biopsy was most likely not representative.
  • After diagnostic laparotomy, definitive pathology showed a benign multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma.
  • HIPEC was performed at a tertiary center. Pathology showed a radically resected multicystic mesothelioma 7 cm in diameter, and the patient recovered well.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors stated that a definitive diagnosis before surgery is challenging and that pathology is difficult to establish from biopsies alone.

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