Published online Oct 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i28.8482
Peer-review started: March 12, 2021
First decision: June 24, 2021
Revised: July 5, 2021
Accepted: August 18, 2021
Article in press: August 18, 2021
Published online: October 6, 2021
Diagnosing hyperandrogenemia in postmenopausal women is very difficult. It occasionally manifests as excessive hair growth or with no clinical manifestations, and is therefore often misdiagnosed or missed altogether. Ovarian steroid cell tumors that cause hyperandrogenemia in women account for approximately 0.1% of all ovarian tumors. Due to the low incidence, corresponding imaging reports are rare, so ovarian steroid cell tumors lacks typical imaging findings to differentiate it from other ovarian tumors. Therefore, we summarized its clinical and imaging characteristics through this case series, and elaborated on the differential diagnosis of steroid cell tumors.
We report three cases of postmenopausal women with hyperandrogenemia. Only 1 patient showed virilization symptoms, the other two patients were completely asymptomatic. All patients underwent total hysterectomy + bilateral adnexe
Although virilization caused by increased serum testosterone levels is an important clinical feature of ovarian steroid cell tumors, it is often asymptomatic. A solid, slightly hypoechoic, round or oval mass with uniform internal echo, richer blood flow in the solid part, and low resistance index are typical imaging features of ovarian steroid cell tumors. Diagnosis of ovarian steroid cell tumors after menopause is challenging, but surgery can be used for both diagnosis and clear treatment.
Core Tip: Ovarian steroid cell tumors are a rare sex cord-stromal tumor accounting for approximately 0.1% of all ovarian tumors. Although virilization caused by increased serum testosterone levels is an important clinical feature of ovarian steroid cell tumors, it is often completely asymptomatic. Therefore, while paying attention to the typical imaging features of ovarian steroid cell tumors, we cannot ignore clinically asymptomatic patients, especially postmenopausal women.