Case series on large benign ovarian tumors in post-menopausal women

Introduction: Space occupying large abdomino-pelvic ovarian tumours are uncommon. Such huge ovarian tumours in postmenopausal women demand to be evaluated thoroughly, as they raise the suspicion of malignancy. The prevalence of ovarian neoplasm in postmenopausal women is 14-18% with a risk of 10-40% in the case of large complex ovarian cysts.
Objective: To study the clinical features, imaging and management of 8 post-menopausal women with large abdomino-pelvic ovarian tumours.
Materials and Methods: A retrospective study conducted in a tertiary care institutional hospital in Central Maharashtra, between December 2018- July 2019. 8 post-menopausal women with large ovarian tumours were included in the series.
Results: All of them presented with either or all of the symptoms like, abdominal distension, abdominal pain and breathing difficulties. Imaging showed large ovarian masses with features suggestive of malignant etiology. They underwent exploratory laparotomy. Histopathology reports of 7 out of 8 showed benign ovarian tumours, the most common being Serous Cystadenoma.
Conclusion: Due to lack of awareness, ignorance and logistic reasons patients present at a much later stage. The huge ovarian tumours in postmenopausal women raise suspicion of malignancy which causes social stigma and emotional distress to the women. Hence, they warrant detailed evaluation and surgical removal. This case series shows that not all extremely large tumours need to be malignant.