The Clinical Study of the Torsion of the Ovarian Tumor in Postmenopausal Women

Kim, Seung Ryong; Cho, Soo Hyun; Kim, Kyung Tai; Moon, Hyung; Hwang, Youn Yeung; Shin, Joong Sik; Moon, Young Jin

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinicopathologic characteristics of the torsion of the ovarian tumor in postmenopausal women.
METHODS
We reviewed the medical records of 20 postmenopausal patients with a postoperative diagnosis of torsion of the ovarian tumor in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hanyang University Hospital from January 1989 to December 1998.
RESULTS
The postmenopausal patients with torsion of the ovarian tumor constitute 20/94 (21.3%) of all adnexal torsion patients encountered during this period. The mean (+/-SD) age of the 20 patients was 63.5+/-9.0 years, with a range of 52-90 years. The mean time since menopause was 16.5+/-10.3 years, with a range of 1-39 years. The mean parity was 5.4+/-2.0 (range of 3-10). Lower abdominal pain (65%) was the most frequently presenting symptom, palpable mass(20%) or diagnosed mass(15%) being the second. But, in 20% of cases there was no lower abdominal pain. The torsion occurred at the right side in 11cases (55%) and at the left side in 9 cases. The most frequent degree of torsion was those cases that was rotated twice (720 degrees). The neoplasms undergoing torsion ranged in diameter between 5cm and 30cm and the most prevalent size was 6 to 10 cm (8 cases). Most of the patients (17cases) were treated by total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. The tumors that produce torsion varied histologically and the most common type was cystic teratoma (in 5 cases), simple cyst(in 3 cases), serous cystadenoma(in 2 cases), mucinous cystadenoma(in 2 cases).
CONCLUSIONS
In our study, ovarian tumor torsion occurring in postmenopausal patients constituted approximately 20% of all torsion patients, therefore adnexal torsion should be considered when a postmenopausal woman presents with lower abdominal pain. When torsion is diagnosed, total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is the usual treatment for postmenopausal patients. Histologically, in more than 90% of cases, the tumors that produce torsion were benign. If cancer is evident, more extensive surgery is required.