ABDOMINAL ULTRASOUND COMBINED WITH HISTOLOGICAL AND CYTOLOGICAL FINE-NEEDLE BIOPSY OF SUSPECTED OVARIAN-TUMORS

To investigate, in a population of women suspected of an ovarian mass, whether pelvic ultrasound (US) and US combined with US-guided fine ne edle biopsy (FNB) increased the detection rate and whether tumor speci fic diagnoses could be obtained, a cohort of 307 patients suspected of an ovarian mass underwent US examination as part of routine gynecolog ic work-up. In cases of solid or solid/cystic lesions a US guided FNB for histology as well as cytology was proposed. All 35 primary ovarian cancers, 6 of 7 secondary ovarian cancers, and 3 of 4 non-ovarian can cers were demonstrated on US. Among 17 cases with normal palpation and an ovarian mass on US, operation disclosed 3 ovarian cancers. FNB ide ntified 24 of 27 primary ovarian cancers and 7 of 7 cancers of extra-o varian origin. The use of US, in this study, increased the detection o f masses in the pelvis and FNB provided a reliable verification.