Benign multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma presenting as a ghost abdominal mass

Our plain-English summary of Benign multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma presenting as a ghost abdominal mass, by H. Jerraya, W. Ghariani, A. Blel, et al (Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, 2016).

The study

• Authors: H. Jerraya, W. Ghariani, A. Blel, A. Gaja, C. Dziri
• Journal: Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging
• Published: 2016;97(3):361-3
• Type of article: Case report
• Cited by: 5 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This article is a case report from Charles Nicolle Hospital in Tunis, Tunisia, about one patient with benign multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma (BMPM), a rare tumor of the lining of the abdomen. The article does not mention asbestos. The authors wrote that the cause of BMPM is unknown. An 84-year-old man had pain in the right lower abdomen for over a month, and an ultrasound showed a multiloculated cystic mass of about 10 cm there. When his pain suddenly worsened, a CT scan no longer showed that mass. Instead it showed a 63 mm single cyst in the omental bursa and free fluid in the abdomen. Testing of the fluid found no malignant cells. One month later a multiloculated cystic mass was again seen in the same area. At surgery, cysts ranging from a few millimeters to 12 cm were removed, and tissue examination was consistent with BMPM. He had no recurrence after two years. The authors suggested that cyst rupture may favor spread. They concluded that surgery should avoid rupturing cysts whenever possible to presumably prevent recurrence.

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)
• Who was studied: one 84-year-old man with no previous medical or surgical history, treated at Charles Nicolle Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia
• Main results:
  • An outside ultrasound showed a multiloculated cystic mass in the right iliac fossa of about 10 cm.
  • After the pain suddenly worsened, CT showed a 63 mm unilocular cyst of the omental bursa with free peritoneal fluid, and the earlier right iliac fossa mass had disappeared.
  • The abdominal fluid had low albumin (9 g/L) and no malignant cells. Hydatid serology was negative.
  • One month later the patient returned with a painful mass in the right iliac fossa.
  • The resected specimen contained multiple cysts from a few millimeters to 12 cm.
  • Tissue examination showed thin-walled cysts lined by flattened mesothelial cells, consistent with BMPM.
  • The patient had no recurrence after two years of follow-up.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors suggested that spread of BMPM may be favored by cyst rupture, noting that new cysts formed one month after rupture in this case. They concluded that treatment is cytoreductive surgery, avoiding cyst rupture whenever possible to presumably prevent postoperative recurrence.

Topics

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Peritoneal Mesothelioma.

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• A Case of Abdominal Discomfort Caused by Benign Multicystic Peritoneal Mesothelioma — T.G. Cotter, J.S. Van Arnam, et al. (2016)
• Benign multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma: a rare cause of intra-abdominal cystic disease — B. Campbell, D. Mehanna, et al. (2017)
• Multi-institutional experience of diffuse intra-abdominal multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma — T.C. Chua, T.D. Yan, et al. (2011)
• Benign multicystic mesothelioma and peritoneal inclusion cysts: are they the same clinical and histopathological entities? A systematic review to find an evidence-based management — A.M.C. Rapisarda, A. Cianci, et al. (2018)
• Imaging appearance of benign multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma: a case report and review of the literature — V. Mehta, V. Chowdhary, et al. (2017)
• A recurrence of benign multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma treated through laparoscopic excision: a case report and review of the literature — T.D. Witek, J.W. Marchese, et al. (2014)

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