Management of adnexal masses in pregnancy: analysis of 27 cases and review of the literature

Abstract

The incidence of adnexal masses in pregnancy is approximately 1%. Most of them are corpus luteum and benign physiological cysts seen in first trimester. 90% of these cysts are resolved spontaneously in the second trimester. The rate of complication such as torsion and rupture in persisted cysts is about 25%. The risk of malignancy is between 2-5%. It is reasonable to perform surgery in cysts with high risk of malignancy or in cysts susceptible to complication, other masses can be treated conservatively. Suitable time for surgery is between 16th and 18th weeks of gestation. The traditional method of management of adnexal masses in pregnancy is laparatomy but in certain conditions laparoscopy can be performed. Most of the ovarian cancers detected inpregnacy are germ cell tumors and these can be operated conservatively. In this paper management of adnexal masses in pregnancy, difficulties in diagnosis, treatment methods and timing were mentioned. Besides that, 27 adnexal masses diagnosed during pregnancy in our clinic were analyzed under the view of the literature. i