Publication:

Clinical and histopathological profile of patients with ovarian cyst presenting in a tertiary care hospital of Kashmir, India

Background Ovary is the commonest site of physiological and pathological lesions which can present in any age group and are common gynaecological problems encountered by gynaecologists in their daily practice.

Aims To find the clinical and histopathological profile of patients with ovarian cysts in Kashmir valley and to determine regional variation if any.

Methods This was an observational study conducted in the Postgraduate Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Lalla Ded Hospital, Government Medical College over a period of two years from March 2014 to March 2016 of 160 patients after obtaining ethical clearance from the institutional ethical committee. All the cases of ovarian cysts sent for histopathological examination were included in the study. Data included age, parity, clinical symptoms, intra-operative findings and histopathological findings.

Results The mean age of presentation was 33.9 years. Most ovarian tumours occurred in 30 - 39 years of age. Dull abdominal pain was the most common clinical presentation.  Of the 160 patients studied, the incidence of benign tumour was 71.87%, borderline tumour was 1.9% and malignant tumour was 28.12%. The most common type of ovarian cysts was serous cystadenoma (22.5%) followed by mucinous cystadenoma (19.4%). Bilateral ovarian involvement was seen in 13.1% cases.

Conclusions Benign ovarian tumours were more common than malignant ones in all age groups. A higher incidence of malignancy was observed in our study as compared to other studies, showing regional variations and highlighting the need to identify region specific risk factors.