Primary Presentation of Ovarian Cancer with Bladder Outlet Obstruction/Chronic Urinary Retention in a 12-Year Old Female

Abstract

Urinary retention in women is rare and is more frequently described as case reports or small case series. The female/male ratio is 1:13 with about 3 cases per 100,000 women every year We report a case of a 12-year old female student. She presented with progressive weight loss, worsening lower urinary tract symptoms with distended lower abdomen of 10 weeks duration. Physical examination revealed a mobile tender firm pelvic mass, 18 centimeters (cm) × 16 cm in size. Laboratory and imaging studies showed obstructive nephropathy and uropathy respectively. She was worked up and had uneventful exploratory laparotomy with right salpingo-oophorectomy, urinary bladder diverticulectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Histopathology of the pelvic mass showed ovarian dysgerminoma with lymph node metastasis. She responded very well to chemotherapy and resumed her school activities. Bladder outlet obstruction is relatively rare in females and in the index patient, ovarian dysgerminoma is the cause leading to obstructive nephropathy and uropathy.