An obese 31-year-old nulliparous woman was admitted to the general emergency service with back pain that had started one week earlier and gradually become constant and increased in intensity. She was also vomiting but denied fever, dysuria, constipation, diarrhoea or anorexia. She had never been pregnant and had had amenorrhea for the past 7 years, due to polycystic ovary syndrome. Her body mass index was 39 kg/m2 (height 168 cm; weight 110 kg); she was taking no medication and had no other surgical or medical history to disclose.\nDuring her physical exam, her vital signs were normal and abdominal examination revealed only tenderness in right quadrants, without guarding or rebound. Blood tests were performed and revealed a high white blood cell count (16,700 per mm3, 72% neutrophils), normal renal function and were negative for C-reactive protein. Urine analysis and pregnancy test were also negative.\nBecause her pain worsened, despite the administration of analgesic drugs, the patient underwent an abdominal and pelvic computed tomography (CT) scan, which showed a huge central abdominal-pelvic cyst arising from the right adnexa (). The cyst measured 25 cm × 20 cm × 14 cm and there was an adjacent enlarged oedematous ovary, highly suggestive of torsion. The left ovary, uterus and the appendix were normal and no free fluid in the abdomen and pelvis was observed.\nShe was then referred to the gynaecology department. Her gynaecologic exam was apparently normal but limited due to obesity. A pelvic ultrasound revealed a 20 cm × 20 cm thin-walled mass of the right adnexa, not clearly separate from it. Doppler examination showed that the right ovary was visible and had a polycystic ovarian morphology and apparent presence of vascular flow. The left ovary had the same polycystic pattern.\nHer pain became acutely worse, which reinforced the hypothesis of adnexal torsion. Based on these findings and the increased pain, we decided to perform exploratory laparotomy. Intraoperatively, a giant (~25 cm) cystic median mass of apparent right adnexal origin was seen, occupying the entire pelvis up to the diaphragm. The cyst wall was intact, adhesion-free and swollen. Necrotic ovarian tissue was identified within the mass, but no cleavage planes were identified. The pedicle, which included the infundibulopelvic and utero-ovarian ligaments, was twisted twice around its stalk (). The left adnexa and the uterus looked normal.\nThe patient underwent resection of the mass without rupture. Frozen-section analysis was not available since the surgery was performed during the night. The final pathology report noted a paratubal serous papillary cystadenoma, an ovary with polycystic morphology and a normal fallopian tube. All fragments had congestion, oedema and haemorrhage, consistent with obstruction of the arteriovenous flow (torsion). The postoperative course was uneventful.
The patient, a 41-year-old woman with a non-relevant past medical history, concluded her fourth pregnancy by cesarean delivery owing to macrosomic product (July 2013). Tubal ligation was performed on postoperative day one by the Kroener fimbriectomy method, which coursed uneventfully and without any remarkable findings. The specimens obtained were sent for routine histopathological assessment, and the patient was discharged after full recovery. To date she is healthy and without any complaints.\nBoth distal tubes and fimbriae were identified; the large tube was bulky with a nodular appearance (3.5×2×1.3 cm) (). Transverse sections taken from this dilated duct revealed an overfilled lumen with a caramel-like substance surrounding an ill-defined peripheral spot, which, when seen under a magnifying glass, showed a fractal pattern similar to a snowflake (). Histologically, this hazy frame was sketched by a slender stalk with progressively branching papillae lined by columnar non-ciliated cells with plump eosinophilic cytoplasm showing focal pseudostratification and budding (, ). The nuclei of these cells were centrally located, enlarged, and rounded or oval. The nuclei displayed a variable appearance, either dense and hyperchromatic, or vesicular with a prominent nucleolus, and sometimes having coarse chromatin, membrane foldings, pseudoinclusions or grooves. Mitotic activity was not identified.\nDespite the presence of luminal extracellular mucin, several subnuclear mucin-filled vacuoles were also identified, occasionally expanding into cyst-like structures (). Periodic acid– Schiff and Alcian blue stains highlighted the extracellular and intracellular mucin, while the intracytoplasmic vacuoles were stained with Mayer’s mucicarmine (–).\nImmunoperoxidase stains demonstrated an intensely positive reaction for cytokeratin cocktail (CK AE1/AE3) in the membrane and cytoplasm () of cells, as well as for epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) with weak cytoplasmic expression and luminal border reinforcement (). Detection of progesterone receptors (PR) was markedly positive in 95% of cells, while estrogen receptors (ER) and androgen receptors were moderately and weakly positive in 70% and 10% of cells, respectively (–). The proliferation index labeled with Ki-67 was rated in approximately 3% of cells (). Surprisingly, cyclin D1 staining was observed in nearly 90% of cells (). No reaction was detected toward a variety of factors, including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), human chorionic gonadotropin, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/Neu), or B-cell lymphoma 2 protein (Bcl-2).\nAccordingly, the proliferation was diagnosed as a metaplastic papillary tumor of the Fallopian tube, with a note to the clinician about the benign behavior of the alteration.