Postmenopausal women with hyperandrogenemia: Three case reports

Abstract

BACKGROUND 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. CASE SUMMARY 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 adnexectomy. Histological results showed one case of Leydig cell tumor and two cases of benign, non-specific steroid cell tumor. After the operation, the androgen levels of all patients returned to normal, and there was no clinical recurrence since follow-up. CONCLUSION 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.

Somatic gene mutations in malignant steroid cell tumours and response to multiple treatments

“…Notably, many of the recently published cases of steroid tumour cells have developed virilising signs, but in this case, no significant virilising signs were observed 10–12…”

The Leydig Steroid Cell Tumor in a Postmenopausal Woman with Clinical and Biochemical Hyperandrogenism: A Case Report

“…Firstly, due to the rare incidence of LCTs, the OB-GYN and other specialists are typically not familiar with this group of ovarian tumors. Secondly, LCTs may be asymptomatic [ 9 ], and these patients often do not have enlarged ovaries when estimated by bimanual vaginal examination and pelvic ultrasound [ 10 ], especially in the absence of Doppler scanning. Diagnosis of LCTs in this group of patients is based on the detection of hyperandrogenemia and/or clinical manifestations of virilization, which often has an erased picture against the background of the natural aging processes in postmenopause [ 2 , 11 , 12 , 13 ].…”