Krukenberg tumor presenting as back pain and a positive urine pregnancy test: a case report and literature review

A Krukenberg tumor is a rare and potentially deadly cause of elevated serum β-hCG as part of a paraneoplastic syndrome. This study aims to describe the unusual case of a 36-year-old woman that presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with back pain and a positive urine pregnancy test. Assessment r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of ovarian research 2014-04, Vol.7 (1), p.36-36
Main Authors: Moghazy, Dalia, Al-Hendy, Omar, Al-Hendy, Ayman
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abdomen
Adult
Back Pain - diagnosis
Back Pain - etiology
Biomarkers - blood
Biomarkers - urine
Biopsy
Care and treatment
Case Report
Case studies
Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human - blood
Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human - urine
Diagnosis
False Positive Reactions
Fatal Outcome
Female
Health aspects
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Krukenberg Tumor - blood
Krukenberg Tumor - complications
Krukenberg Tumor - diagnosis
Krukenberg Tumor - therapy
Krukenberg Tumor - urine
Medical research
Medicine, Experimental
Metastasis
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Ovarian Neoplasms - blood
Ovarian Neoplasms - complications
Ovarian Neoplasms - diagnosis
Ovarian Neoplasms - therapy
Ovarian Neoplasms - urine
Pain Measurement
Patient outcomes
Predictive Value of Tests
Pregnancy Tests
Pregnant women
Risk factors
Time Factors
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Treatment Outcome
Womens health
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Description
Summary:A Krukenberg tumor is a rare and potentially deadly cause of elevated serum β-hCG as part of a paraneoplastic syndrome. This study aims to describe the unusual case of a 36-year-old woman that presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with back pain and a positive urine pregnancy test. Assessment revealed no intrauterine pregnancy and a small left ovarian cyst. Further investigation showed moderately differentiated gastric adenocarcinoma with distant metastases to the spine. The patient died less than 3 months after her first presentation to the ED. Paraneoplastic syndrome, albeit rare, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of elevated β-hCG due to the high mortality associated with Krukenberg tumors.
ISSN:1757-2215
1757-2215
DOI:10.1186/1757-2215-7-36