Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan 22;15(1):e34059.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.34059. eCollection 2023 Jan.

Anatomic Distribution of Benign Ovarian Tumors in Perimenopausal and Postmenopausal Women

Michail Matalliotakis  1 , Charoula Matalliotaki  1 , Konstantinos Krithinakis  1 , Aggelos Laliotis  2 , Georgios Kapetanios  3 , Ioannis Tsakiridis  3 , Ioannis Kalogiannidis  3
Affiliations

Anatomic Distribution of Benign Ovarian Tumors in Perimenopausal and Postmenopausal Women

Michail Matalliotakis et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Introduction We aim to report the histotypes and reassess the anatomic distribution of benign ovarian tumors in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Methods Medical and pathology reports of women with histologically confirmed benign ovarian pathology were investigated. Data were collected, retrospectively between 2000 and 2020, and analyzed from perimenopausal and postmenopausal women with benign ovarian tumors, after bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy (BSO) with or without total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH). The ovarian masses histology and the distribution of locations were further evaluated. Results The total sample consisted of 1,355 women with benign ovarian tumors; 929 (68.6%) of the perimenopausal and 426 (31.4%) of the postmenopausal age. A dermoid cyst was prominent in the right ovary (52.8%), compared to the left side (41%) (p<0.01). Conversely, in patients with endometriomas and cysts of Morgagni, the observed proportion was more prominent in the left-sided ovary (61.8% vs 27%; p<0.001 and 52.3% vs 36.4%; p<0.01, respectively). Moreover, in the perimenopausal women, we mostly detected endometrioma (18.3%), dermoid cyst (15.5%) and cyst of Morgagni (4%) compared to postmenopausal women, where serous cysts (29.8%) and ovarian fibroids (8%) were the most common tumors. Conclusions Benign ovarian tumors are frequently seen in perimenopausal women and most histotypes present anatomical differences between the left and right ovaries. Serous cysts, followed by paraovarian, dermoid cysts and endometrioma present the commonest ovarian benign masses. Gynecologists should pay special attention to adnexal tumors in the postmenopausal period to choose the right operating setting for women at risk for ovarian cancer.

Keywords: adnexal mass; anatomic distribution; benign ovarian tumors; perimenopause; postmenopause.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Histological distribution of benign ovarian tumors of our whole sample analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Anatomical distribution of ovarian masses (total sample).
Figure 3
Figure 3. Age-related difference in distribution of ovarian masses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Pathology and classification of ovarian tumors. Chen VW, Ruiz B, Killeen JL, Coté TR, Wu XC, Correa CN. Cancer. 2003;97:2631–2642. - PubMed
    1. Kurman RJ, Carcangiu ML, Herrington CS, Young RH. WHO Classification of Tumours of Female Reproductive Organs. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2014. WHO Classification of Tumours of Female Reproductive Organs; p. 307.
    1. Russell P. In: Blaustein’s Pathology of Female Genital Tract. New York, USA: Springer-Verlag; 1994. Surface epithelial-stromal tumors of the ovary; pp. 705–782.
    1. Prevalence and histologic diagnosis of adnexal cysts in postmenopausal women: an autopsy study. Dørum A, Blom GP, Ekerhovd E, Granberg S. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2005;192:48–54. - PubMed
    1. Inpatient hospitalization for gynecologic disorders in the United States. Whiteman MK, Kuklina E, Jamieson DJ, Hillis SD, Marchbanks PA. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2010;202:541. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources