Decidualized Endometrioma Masquerading as Ovarian Cancer in Pregnancy

Yvette Groszmann, Yvette S. Groszmann, Brooke E Howitt, Bryann Bromley, Colleen M Feltmate, Beryl R Benacerraf
Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine · 2014 · vol. 33(11) , pp. 1909–1915 · doi:10.7863/ultra.33.11.1909 · PMID:25336477 · W2109240444
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 8 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

Sonographic features of decidualized endometriomas during pregnancy could not reliably distinguish them from ovarian malignancies, although stability over four weeks or lack of solid components favored benignity.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To identify the sonographic features of decidualized endometriomas in patients treated at a single institution and to determine whether sonographic findings can distinguish these lesions from malignant ovarian tumors during pregnancy. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study that included pregnant women with a histologic diagnosis of decidualized endometrioma between January 1, 2005, and December 1, 2012, and had an ovarian cyst or mass seen preoperatively on obstetrical sonography. Sonographic characteristics of these masses were retrospectively evaluated using the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis Group definitions for adnexal masses. RESULTS: Seventeen patients with 22 adnexal masses were included in our study. Nine of 22 lesions (41%) were classified as unilocular solid, and 14 of 22 (64%) had solid components, of which 12 of 14 (86%) had substantial blood flow. Septations were present in 8 of 22 masses (36%). Cyst sizes varied from 30 to 120 and 32 to 270 mm at the initial and follow-up scans, respectively. Eight patients had no follow-up scans and underwent surgery within 3 weeks of diagnosis. The other 9 patients (14 masses), had follow-up scans and underwent surgery from 3 to 34 weeks after their initial scans. Eight of these masses showed no notable change in size or appearance, and 1 became smaller. CONCLUSIONS: There were no characteristic sonographic features identified to distinguish decidualized endometrioma from ovarian malignancy. However, lesions showing no change in size over 4 weeks or lacking solid components and vascularity are more likely to be benign rather than malignant and may justify delaying surgery until delivery or postpartum.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisendometrioma

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Ovarian Diseases Pregnancy Complications Ultrasonography Adult Diagnosis, Differential Endometriosis Female Humans Ovarian Diseases Ovarian Neoplasms Ovarian Neoplasms Pregnancy Pregnancy Complications Reproducibility of Results Sensitivity and Specificity Ultrasonography

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (15)

Cited by (8)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-21T06:12:49.409960+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:18:15.805398+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK