Chlamydia Trachomatis Peritonitis: Report of a Patient Presenting Spontaneous Regression of Ascites

Abstract

A 36-year-old Japanese woman complained of right hypochondralgia followed by ascites. Paracentesis showed a turbid, straw-colored sterile exudate. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen revealed a left periuteric mass and ascites. The mass and ascites spontaneously regressed within a month with no specific treatment. Later, after the patient had been discharged from hospital, immunofluorescence antibody titers for Chlamydia trachomatis were successfully determined using stored ascitic fluid and serum. Though the number of cases of Chlamydia trachomatis peritonitis has increased, few cases with ascites have been reported, and spontaneous regression of the ascites is also rare. © 1992, The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine. All rights reserved.