Objective: To determine the clinical characteristics and management of ovarian tumor in infertility women.
Methods: During the period from Jan. 1 1999 to Dec. 31 2004, 110 infertility women with ovarian tumor were analysed retrospectively, in terms of clinical and pathological features. According to the histological findings, the tumors were divided into three groups: epithelial tumor, teratoma and others.
Results: Among 110 cases, 49 cases were epithelial tumor, 42 cases were teratoma, and 19 cases were others. A total of 97 cases were small ovarian tumor, and the maximal diameter was less than 5 cm. In epithelial tumor group only 29% were diagnosed before operation, significantly lower than the other two groups (P < 0.01). In epithelial tumor group 61% were complicated with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), significantly higher than teratoma group (26%, P < 0.01). A total of 102 cases (91%) were followed-up for 1.5 to 5 years. A total of 45 patients (44%) had become pregnant. Among them 18 conceived spontaneously, 21 underwent in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer, and 6 received artificial insemination.
Conclusions: Most ovarian tumors found in infertility women are small cysts and only a few epithelial tumors are diagnosed before the operation. Physicians should be alert of infertility women with ovarian mass and laparoscopy should be performed as early as possible. Our data show the incidence of PID in epithelial tumor group is higher than others. After treatment by surgery and assisted reproductive technology, those infertility women with ovarian tumor may achieve fair pregnancy outcomes.