[Ovarian abscess due to Actinomyces sp. in absence of an intrauterine contraceptive device].

The disease caused by Actinomyces spp. is often of difficult diagnosis. Actinomyces spp. are anaerobic or microaerophilic non-spore-forming gram-positive rods that may reach, occasionally, the normal female genital tract. IUD and pessaries facilitate the access of the microorganisms to the pelvis. We report an unusual case of ovarian infection by Actinomyces sp. in a 41 year-old female without IUD, admitted at the Institute in November 1998, with persistent fever. She had had an early menopause 3 years before, and had received hormonal replacement therapy. Usual and unusual infections were discarded by microbiological and serologic studies. Abdominal ultrasonography showed a slight left pyelocalycial dilatation and a simple cyst in the left ovary; heart ultrasonography was normal. Gynecological examination showed an enlarged uterus, similar to an 8 week pregnancy, painless, and fixed anexial masses. The transvaginal ultrasonography showed uterine myomas, one of them of 42 mm in the isthmus region, large ovaries, cystic, with acoustic shadows, and the left one with a septum. The preoperative diagnosis was infected bilateral cystic teratoma. The procedure was an exploratory laparotomy, followed by a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. The specimen studies showed an endometrioma with calcium deposits in the wall of the right ovary, and an abscess in the left ovary, also with calcification of the wall. The sample from the left abscess developed Actinomyces sp. After surgery, and treatment with penicillin, the fever disappeared. It is important to remark that the ovarian infection by Actinomyces sp. can also occur in patients without an IUD or a pessary; it might cause anexial images that can be interpreted as a tumour, inducing to erroneous diagnosis and treatment.