title: Giant cystic leiomyoma of the uterus occupying the retroperitoneal space.
abstract: A 31-year-old nulliparous woman visited our hospital complaining of abdominal distension. Abdominal ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed a 40 × 40 × 30-cm, multilocular cystic mass extending from the upper abdomen to the pelvis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a cystic tumor that was hypointense on T1-weighted images and was heterogeneously hyperintense on T2-weighted images. The final diagnosis was an 8 kg leiomyoma with cystic degeneration. Uterine leiomyomas are common benign tumors in females of reproductive age. However, subserosal leiomyomas with complete cystic degeneration of the retroperitoneal space are rare, and they are difficult to accurately diagnosis without pathological examination.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, Shinsuma General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaoru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Funaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, Shinsuma General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidenobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fukunishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Shinsuma General Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Kobe Century Memorial Hospital, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shimane University School of Medicine, Shimane, Japan.
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003560:Cysts / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007889:Leiomyoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D012186:Retroperitoneal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012187:Retroperitoneal Space; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*
keywords: cystic degeneration; retroperitoneal cyst; retroperitoneal leiomyoma