Is there any relationship between massive ascites and elevated CA-125 in systemic lupus erythematosus? Case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, multisystemic autoimmune disease of variable presentation. Massive ascites in the context of SLE is infrequent. Even so, it has been reported that ascites may be the first manifestation of SLE. It is difficult to diagnose due to the multiple possible aetiological causes of ascites. There is a rare entity called Pseudo-Pseudo Meigs Syndrome (PPMS) in patients with SLE who have ascites, pleural effusion, and CA-125 elevation unrelated to malignancy. We present two cases of massive ascites, pleural effusion and elevation of CA-125 with a history of SLE diagnosis. One of these cases was diagnosed with PPMS and another associated with neoplasm of ovarian origin.

Keywords:

• Ascites
• Tjalma syndrome
• Pseudo-Pseudo Meigs
• CA-125
• systemic lupus erythematosus

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgement to Dr. María Alejandra Martínez-Ceballos, specialists from Rheumatology, Internal Medicine, Nephrology and Intensive Critical Care services who carefully evaluated and followed these patients. The language of the paper has benefited from the academic editing services of Cecile Dunn and the support of the "Call for the improvement of the language in research papers" of the Fundación Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud - FUCS.

Ethical approval

We could not obtain a signed consent from the deceased patient, their guardians, or their families.

The ethics board of Fundación Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud (FUCS)/San Jose Hospital takes responsibility that exhaustive attempts have been made to contact the family and that this manuscript had been sufficiently anonymised so as not to cause harm to the patient or their families (Act 573. Letter 0344. June 6th).

Conflict of interest

None.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.