[Ovarian carcinoid tumor responsible of permanent facial erythrosis and flushings during sexual intercourse].

BACKGROUND

Ovarian neuroendocrine tumors are extremely rare. In the ovary, the term of neuroendocrine tumor is usually related to carcinoid tumors although it may be sometimes applied to neuroendocrine carcinomas of non-small cells or small cells cancers usually occurring in the lungs. These carcinoid tumors may develop de novo or from other tumors including teratomas.

METHODS

We report a patient who presented with an ovarian carcinoid tumor developed, near or from a dermoid cyst, which was original by its mode of discovery in the dermatology department. Indeed, the patient consulted because of permanent facial erythrosis, with flushes but also facial telangiectasias. During medical examination, classic symptoms of carcinoid syndrome including heart disease were obvious. The occurrence of flushes during coitus should evoke pelvic tumor location.

CONCLUSIONS

A carcinoid syndrome is naturally evoked in the presence of flushes but it must also be part of the differential diagnosis in a patient with facial erythrosis or telangiectasias, especially if they are associated with diarrhea or right heart failure. The prognosis of carcinoid heart disease is considerably better in case of ovarian location than when it is a primitive carcinoid tumor of lung or from gastrointestinal tract.