A UNILATERAL HYDROTHORAX AS THE ONLY MANIFESTATION OF OVARIAN HYPERSTIMULATION SYNDROME - A CASE-REPORT

Objective: To describe a rare case of unilateral hydrothorax occurrenc e after ovarian stimulation for IVF. Design: Case report. Setting: A u niversity hospital. Patient(s): A 39-year-old female suffering from pr imary infertility due to a severe male factor. Intervention(s): Thorac ocentesis with IV albumin administration for correction of a concomita nt hypoalbuminemia. Main Outcome Measure(s): Laboratory values of hema tologic measures and electrolytes, screening of the thoracic fluid asp irated for viral and bacterial infections, resolution of pleural effus ion after the second thoracocentesis as determined by chest roentgenog ram. Result(s): Treatment of this manifestation of the ovarian hyperst imulation syndrome (OHSS) by thoracocentesis with albumin perfusion. C onclusion(s): This report describes a very rare case of thoracic compl ication after ovarian stimulation. It demonstrates that pleural effusi on may be the only manifestation of the OHSS and implies a careful man agement of patients with pulmonary complaints after treatment with exo genous gonadotropins.