Radio-pathological correlation of ovarian cysts in reproductive age group: An institutional study

Ovarian cysts that arise in the reproductive age group are mostly benign and regress spontaneously. Functional cysts are common in this age group and can be distinguished from other complex or malignant cysts on ultrasound. Ultrasound (USG) remains the primary screening modality for diagnosis of ovarian cysts and is essential for early diagnosis and management. In this study we aimed to correlate the USG findings with the histopathological diagnosis and to evaluate the common ovarian cysts found in the reproductive age group. This was a retrospective study done by retrieving the histopathological and USG reports of women in the reproductive age group, who had undergone total hysterectomy or oophorectomy. Data was entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using SPSS software 22.0. The study showed that the most common ovarian cyst was benign serous cystadenomas with 83 patients diagnosed of the same. This was followed by endometriosis, dermoid cysts and other lesions including benign mucinous cystadenomas, functional cysts, paraovarian cysts, fibroma, dysgerminoma and high-grade epithelial tumor. In the present study, 7.7% (n=19) cases of ovarian lesions greater than 0.5cm in diameter were missed on USG. Implementation of standardized reporting protocol and use of Doppler waveforms along with Ultrasound can help in reducing inter observer variability and provide a more accurate diagnosis.