Diagnostic peculiarities of benign ovarian tumors during pregnancy

Abstract

Objective of the study: improvement of diagnostic methods for pregnant women with tumor-like formations and ovarian tumors. Materials and methods. 60 pregnant women were examined and divided into 3 groups: group I - 28 pregnant women with ovarian tumors who underwent surgical treatment during pregnancy; group II - 21 women with ovarian tumors who underwent surgical treatment at various times after spontaneous delivery; group III (control) - 11 women with a normal course of pregnancy without ovarian tumors. Doppler ultrasound was performed on a mandatory basis at the screening time, and as well as needed. MRI was performed in 8 diagnostically difficult cases. In the II trimester of pregnancy at 12-24 weeks in 49 women with ovarian tumors tumor markers were determined: CA-125, HE-4, β2-microglobulin, transthyretin, transferrin and apolipoprotein A-I, and combined ROMA and RMI indices. Results. The analysis showed the characteristic echographic signs of most ovarian tumors in pregnant women. The overall accuracy of ultrasound in determining the ovarian tumor structure at the outpatient level was extremely low and amounted to 21.8%, in a specialized medical institution it was 79.2%. In the diagnosis of mature teratomas were found MRI sensitivity and specificity of 100%, less diagnostic value (sensitivity 91.7%, specificity 96.9%) was typical for endometrioid ovarian cysts. MRI efficiency in detecting malignant potential (borderline and malignant tumors) was quite high (sensitivity 80.0%, specificity 97.4%). The presence of any ovarian tumor, except for mature teratomas, was accompanied by a significant increase in CA-125 level. The strongest correlation was found for RMI index and CA-125 and HE-4 tumor markers. Conclusions. Doppler ultrasound and MRI are complementary highly informative methods for diagnosing ovarian tumors in pregnant women. Tumor markers used for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant tumors outside pregnancy (CA-125, HE-4, apolipoprotein A-I, transferrin, transthyretin, β2-microglobulin) do not have a high enough diagnostic value in ovarian tumors in pregnant women, therefore their tests should be supportive.