Rare presentation of recurrent ovarian carcinoma with secondary Budd–Chiari syndrome: a case report

Abstract

Background

Budd–Chiari syndrome (BCS) is a rare condition, usually associated with hematological disorders such as thrombotic diathesis and hypercoagulability. Serum CA-125 level is an established tumor marker of ovarian malignancy; however, cases of primary BCS may also show raised CA-125 levels. BCS in a case of ovarian carcinoma is usually primary in nature due to hypercoagulable state, and raised CA-125 levels with tender hepatomegaly in a treated case of ovarian carcinoma usually imply metastatic recurrence in the liver. However, our case demonstrates an atypical secondary cause of BCS in such a patient caused by extrinsic compression of IVC due to recurrent disease.

Case presentation

We report an unusual case of a 69-year-old female who presented with nausea and abdominal pain. She had a 7-year-old history of endometrioid carcinoma of the right ovary for which she underwent total abdominal hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, omentectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection along with adjuvant chemotherapy. Currently, she had right hypochondrium tenderness, deranged liver function tests (LFT) and raised CA-125 levels, which raised suspicion of hepatic metastasis. However, CECT abdomen revealed peripheral mottled enhancement of liver with multifocal extrahepatic tumor deposits, one of them causing compression of inferior vena cava (IVC) implying a diagnosis of secondary Budd–Chiari syndrome.

Conclusions

In a background of treated ovarian malignancy with raised CA-125 levels and deranged LFT, primary suspicion is of hepatic tumor recurrence. However, in our case, radiological investigation revealed diagnosis of secondary Budd–Chiari syndrome due to perihepatic metastatic recurrence with the absence of frank intrahepatic lesions.