Study objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate a prospective series of consecutive patients with adnexal masses selected with strict preoperative clinical and ultrasonographic criteria.
Design: Prospective series of consecutive patients (Canadian Task Force classification II-2).
Setting: Tertiary care university hospitals.
Patients: Six hundred and eighty-three consecutive patients under 40 years of age with ultrasonographic evidence of an adnexal cystic mass without thick septa, internal wall papillation, or solid components, except for sonographic pattern suggestive of dermoid.
Interventions: Operative laparoscopy and follow-up.
Measurements and main results: After initial diagnostic laparoscopy in 13 patients with stage 4 endometriosis and extensive bowel adhesions, in 2 patients with large-volume dermoids, and in 1 patient with suspect ovarian and peritoneal implants, the procedure was converted to laparotomy. Therefore, 667 patients were completely managed by laparoscopy. There were 1069 cysts excised. Histologic diagnosis was endometrioma in 57% of the excised cysts, serous cyst in 13%, dermoid in 12%, paratubal in 8%, mucinous cysts in 5.3%, functional cyst in 2.8%, other benign histotypes in 1.1%, and ovarian malignancies (seven borderline tumors and one endometrioma with a microfocus of G1 endometrioid carcinoma) in 0.7% of the cysts and 1.2% of the patients. These last patients are alive with no evidence of disease after a mean follow-up of 62 months.
Conclusions: In the present series, with accurate preoperative and intraoperative selection, the rate of unexpected borderline or focally invasive malignancies was 1.2% of the patients, and the laparoscopic management of these adnexal masses did not adversely impact on prognosis.