A 10-year clinicopathological analysis of ovarian lesions in a tertiary hospital in Southern Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Ovarian tumours are the most lethal of all gynaecological cancers and they are usually diagnosed in advanced stages when the prognosis is very poor. OBJECTIVE: To determine the pattern of ovarian lesions, their frequency, presentation, and associated clinical symptoms in Uyo, Nigeria. METHODS: A 10-year retrospective study of all ovarian specimens that were surgically removed and histologically diagnosed. RESULTS: The patients were between the ages of 5 and 73 years with median age of 34.1 years. Benign tumours occurred most commonly among the 20–39-year age group (31.3%) while malignant tumours were predominant among those aged 50-69 years (10.0%). Surface epithelial tumours (45.4%) were the most common neoplastic tumours while the mature cystic teratoma (33.2%) was the most common tumour overall. Surface epithelial malignancies accounted for 70.6% of all ovarian malignancies and the serous cyst adenocarcinoma (10.2%) was the most common surface epithelial tumour as well as the most common malignant tumour. CONCLUSION: There has been an increase in the number of malignant ovarian specimens in our centre. Though surface epithelial tumours were the most common category of ovarian tumours, overall, the mature cystic teratoma was the most common tumour. Serous cyst adenocarcinoma was the most common surface epithelial tumour and the most common malignant tumour.