Giant serous cystadenomas encountered in clinical practice: A case series

Abstract

Benign serous cystadenomas represent 16% of all ovarian epithelial neoplasms, and account for up to two-thirds of epithelial tumors of the ovary. They are commonly encountered after the 3rd decade of life and in the later decades, due to the slow growth nature over lifetime. These tumors may begin as small unilocular subcentimeter lesions, but may expand to fill the entire abdominal cavity. This may present with mass effect to surrounding tissues and organs, and lead to sequela of compartment syndrome of the peritoneal cavity. We present a case series of surgical evaluation and management of extremely enlarged serous cystadenomas of the ovary (>30 cm) encountered in an atypical age presentation, with the first case involving a 19 year old who had a known 6 cm cyst four years prior, who presented to emergency room (ER) with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms secondary to the tumors mass effect, imaging demonstrating a massive tumor, subsequently requiring surgical dissection. The second case demonstrates a 25 year old with known cyst (>20 cm) two years prior who presented with even larger effect (close to 40 cm size) and worsening symptoms due to the tumors mass effect requiring removal. In both cases, patients presented to emergency room with acute symptoms, exploratory laparotomy was required for complete evacuation of lesion and for resolution of symptoms.