Conservative treatment and follow-up of vaginal Gartner’s duct cysts: a case series

BACKGROUND: In women, during embryologic development, the paired Müllerian (paramesonephric) ducts fuse distally and develop into the uterus, cervix, and upper vagina. If the Wolffian ducts persist in vestigial form, they can lead to Gartner’s cysts, mainly located in the right wall of the vagina. This is one of the few studies of Gartner’s cysts with a series of consecutive cases over a long period of time who were exclusively subject to clinical observation. Although Gartner’s cysts are found in approximately 0.1 to 0.2 % of women, controversy exists regarding the course of action to be taken. CASE PRESENTATION: We describe the cases of four women who were 38-years old, 53-years old, 37-years old, and 49-years old at their first appointment and who were of mixed ethnicity, mixed ethnicity, black, and mixed ethnicity respectively. The follow-up of these patients ranged from 2 to 17 years. In these four cases the location of the cysts was the right wall of the vagina. Transvaginal ultrasound was the test of choice for diagnostic confirmation. In the cases presented in this study, the women were asymptomatic and chose to be observed clinically. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study reporting long-term clinical observation of these lesions. This study shows that conservative treatment can be a safe option for asymptomatic patients with vaginal Gartner’s duct cysts.