Primary Ovarian Carcinoid Heart Disease Curatively Treated with a Two-Stage Procedure

Introduction

Carcinoid tumors are rare, with an incidence of 1.2 to 2.1 per 100 000 persons per year. Primary ovarian carcinoid tumors account for less than 0.5 % of all carcinoid tumors. The characteristic feature of primary ovarian carcinoid tumor which distinguishes it from the more common carcinoid tumors of the gastrointestinal tract is the development of carcinoid heart disease in the absence of liver metastases, as the venous drainage of the ovaries bypasses the portal circulation. The distinctive carcinoid cardiac lesions consist of fibrous tissue deposits devoid of elastic fibers on the ventricular aspect of the pulmonic valve cusps [[1]]. In this report, we present the case of a patient with a primary carcinoid tumor of the left ovary with severe tricuspid valve insufficiency where the primary diagnosis was based on typical echocardiographic findings.

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