A human ciliopathy with polycystic ovarian syndrome and multiple subcutaneous cysts: A rare case report

RATIONALE: Ciliopathies is a group of clinically and genetically overlapping disorders due to cilia abnormalities and multiple organ systems are involved in. PATIENT CONCERNS: We present a young female patient who showed renal function impairment, Caroli syndrome (CS), liver cirrhosis, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and multiple subcutaneous cysts. DIAGNOSES: The patient was diagnosed with ciliopathy according to the clinical manifestations and whole-genome sequencing. INTERVENTIONS: She received treatment of intravenous albumin, polyene phosphatidyl choline, furosemide, and antisterone. OUTCOMES: The patient showed clinical improvement in her edema and liver tests, and ultrasonography revealed that the ascites had disappeared. Unfortunately, the edema relapsed a year later. The patient received the same treatment as before, and there was clinical improvement of the edema. Since the family cannot afford liver and kidney transplantation, the patient only accepted symptomatic treatment. LESSONS: Polycystic ovarian syndrome and multiple subcutaneous cysts have never before been reported to be associated with ciliopathy. This finding could remind doctors to consider the possibility of ciliopathy disease for patients suffering from similar conditions. In addition, the phenotype of the patient differs from those of patients reported with the same mutations, which also reminds doctors that the clinical manifestation of a given mutation may show patient-specific differences. This case report extends the phenotypic spectrum of ciliopathy, and these findings might represent a new ciliopathy syndrome, which could facilitate the diagnosis of ciliopathies.