Ovarian cysts and tumors of the fetus, child, adolescent, and young adult

Introduction The subject of ovarian cysts and tumors in the young patient has often been overlooked. Our house staff-resident teaching programs in gynecology teach the traditional gynecologic problems of the mature woman. Training of pediatricians also has overlooked gynecologic problems. The young patient in all aspects is completely different from the mature woman. The young patient has frequent functional physiologic benign cysts (simple follicle cysts; complex corpus luteum cysts), most of which are asymptomatic and self-limited. They are often discovered by coincidence when a pelvic or abdominal ultrasound examination is done on a child for other purpose, usually pain. It takes clinical judgment and experience to decide whether the pain is due to the cyst or perhaps due to another cause, such as a gastrointestinal problem. Ovarian cysts are often a normal developmental occurrence in neonates, children, and adolescents. They are common, frequently regress, and are seldom associated with malignancy [1]. Benign mature teratoma (dermoid cyst) is the most common cystic ovarian neoplasm in the adolescent. They are solid masses which are often palpable and with symptoms of pressure, increased abdominal girth, and with or without pain. About one-third of solid neoplasms may be malignant. The goal of surgical treatment of the young patient aside from preserving her health is to preserve fertility if at all possible. The latter is often possible because the malignant ovarian tumors including germ cell cancer (MOGC) usually do not involve the opposite ovary.