Unusual bilateral ovarian metastases from ileal gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST): a case report

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and liver and peritoneum are the main sites of recurrence. Ovarian metastases from GIST are very rare. CASE PRESENTATION: A 50 years-old woman was found to have a pelvic mass on transvaginal ultrasound (TV-US) and computed tomography (CT)-scan, considered as a right ovarian mass. The patient underwent surgical abdominal exploration that showed an ileal mass, a normal right ovary and an irregular and vascularized surface of the left ovary. A segmental ileal resection and an ileal anastomosis were performed. Frozen section showed a GIST and surgery was completed with hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, pelvic peritonectomy, peritoneal washing and Burch procedure. The histological examination confirmed an ileal GIST with ovarian metastases, harboring in both sites of disease a KIT exon 11 deletion. CONCLUSIONS: Ovarian localizations, as far as rare, can be a clinical finding in case of ileal GIST patients, and both gynecologists, pathologists and medical oncologists should be able to recognize them. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-4204-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.