Abstract:
Background: Ovaries are one of the common sites of neoplasm in females. These
neoplasms affect women of all age groups and manifest in wide spectrum of clinical,
morphological and histological features. Even though there are geographical and racial
differences in the frequency, types and age distribution of primary ovarian tumors,
currently there is increament of morbidity and mortality due to ovarian tumors worldwide
and it is the third most common site of primary malignancy in female genital tract.
However, data about the clinical and pathological characteristics of ovarian tumors in
Ethiopia and its neighboring countries is limited.
Objective: The aim of this study was to examine different histopathologic types and
associated factor of primary ovarian tumors in Jimma University Medical Center, Jimma,
from September 2015-August 2019.
Methods and materials: A five years retrospective cross sectional study design was
employed. Data was gathered from ovarian biopsy diagnosis reports from samples
submitted to pathology department as of September 11, 2015 - September10, 2019 by
using prepared checklist and data was entered to Epi data version 3.1, analyzed by SPSS
version 26 and finally presented using narration, tables and graphs.
Result:Majority(73.04%) of the ovarian tumors were benign followed by
malignant(20.58%) and borderline tumor(6.38%). Among which, Surface epithelial
tumors were the most common (64.64%), followed by germ cell tumor (25.80%) and
sexcord stromal tumor (8.12%). The commonest benign tumor was Serous cystadenoma
(42%) followed by mature teratoma (20.9%). Serous cystadenocarcinoma (8.1%) was the
most common malignant ovarian tumor. Most (65%) malignant tumors occurred in age
greater than 40 years. Most malignant tumors (71%) had solid component. About 11.42%
of ovarian tumors were bilateral out of which 20.5% were malignant. Most (69.8%)
malignant tumor had large size greater than or equal to15cm. Of all malignant ovarian
tumors more than a quarter (29%) showed omental involvement and Serous
cystadenocarcinoma accounted for most (77.8%) of the cases. Out of the malignant
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tumors majority 83.3% had papillary excrescence and presence of papillary
excrescence(p=0.013, AOR = 11.911, 95% CI = 1.703–83.324) was the most important
predictor of malignant surface epithelial ovarian tumor.
Conclusion: In this study benign tumors outnumbered malignant and borderline tumor.
Most ovarian tumors were surface epithelial tumors with predominance of serous,
followed by germ cell tumors. The commonest histopathologictypes of benign and
malignant ovarian neoplasm wereserous cystadenoma and serous cystadenocarcinoma
respectively. Age, size, consistency, laterality and presence of papillary excrescence were
variables that affected the malignant nature of tumor, out of which the most powerful
independent predictor of malignant nature of surface epithelial tumors was the presence
of papillary excrescence.