Every woman deserves a healthy life and every woman is gifted with the power to give life to others, to give birth. Yet, there have been numerous circumstances that have arisen in the past decades wherein the number of reproductive diseases in women continue to increase. Meig's syndrome is a condition composed of a triad of three conditions, having an ovarian new growth, pleural effusion and massive ascites.
Pleural effusion is the accumulation of water in the lungs that could lead to fatal complications like coma and even death. Ovarian new growth is the formation of abnormally producing cells in the ovaries and massive ascites is the accumulation of water in the interstitial spaces in the abdomen causing abdominal girth growth. All these when combined into one triad could lead to death if not treated immediately.
According to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance Statistics, the number of cases of ovarian cancer did not improve in the last four decades despite the measures implemented in its aim to reduce mortalities caused by this type of cancer. Furthermore, the American Cancer Society estimated that in around 2013, approximately 22,240 new cases of ovarian cancer were diagnosed and around 14,030 women died of this cancer in United States alone.
In fact, according to World Cancer Research Fund International, ovarian cyst or cancer is the eighth most common cancer in women worldwide. Latvia is currently ranked first as the country with the most number of ovarian cancer cases all over the world.
Meig's Syndrome can be resolved after the resection of the tumor. If the surgical removal is deemed successful, eventually the other two complications would also be resolved. Mainly, the cause of massive ascites is the irritation of peritoneal surfaces by a hard and solid ovarian tumor could stimulate the production of peritoneal fluid. This may cause accumulation of the fluid in the abdomen.
However, the etiology of the presence of pleural effusion is still unknown. According to Efskind and Terada, the presence of water in the lungs could be caused by the transfer of fluid via the transdiaphragmatic lymphatic channels.
Obstetricians may schedule for an emergency surgery to remove the ovarian cyst and the irritation of the peritoneal surfaces may be reduced. Patients especially women of reproductive health should undergo a series of tests to check their reproductive health and prevent the worsening of ovarian cancer and other types of cancers.