Massive solitary metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma in the ovary two years after liver transplantation.

Case report of a 47-year-old woman with a mass in the lower abdomen, was re ferred to us by the surgeon, two years after orthotopic liver transplantati on for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), which was elevated at the time of initial diagnosis, was in the normal range. Fr ozen section examination during exploratory laparotomy showed appearances c onsistent with metastatic HCC in the ovary. This was confirmed at the final pathological examination. Definitive pathological conclusions were based o n the findings of tumor cells arranged in trabecular and papillary aggregat es, and the presence of bile-pigment, along with the patients history. This is the sixth case of metastatic HCC in the ovary being described in litera ture and the first case in which this metastasis was not accompanied by ele vated AFP. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.