Morphological and histopathological spectrum of ovarian lesions diagnosed at a tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan
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Abstract
Objective: To determine the clinicopathological spectrum and histopathological patterns of ovarian lesions and assess their distribution across different age groups among patients presenting to a tertiary care diagnostic center.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Department of Histopathology, Dow Diagnostic Research and Reference Laboratory, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan, over 14 months following institutional ethical approval. A total of 222 ovarian specimens were examined histopathologically and classified according to World Health Organization classification. Clinical, gross morphological, and histopathological findings were recorded. Associations between lesion type, histological subtype, and age groups were analyzed using Fisher's exact test.
Results: Of the 222 patients, 124 (55.9%) aged 21–40 years. Majority (n=200) presented with unilateral lesions. Non-neoplastic lesions predominated (58.6%), followed by benign (35.1%), malignant (3.6%), and borderline neoplasms (2.7%). Follicular cysts (25.7%) and simple ovarian cysts (13.1%) were the most common non-neoplastic lesions, whereas serous cystadenoma (17.1%) and mucinous cystadenoma (6.3%) were the predominant benign neoplasms. Surface epithelial tumors constituted the largest neoplastic category (32.9%), followed by sex cord-stromal tumors (5.0%). Most patients presented with abdominal pain or abdominal mass. No significant association was observed between age group and lesion type (p=0.882), histological subtype (p=0.273), or surface epithelial tumor subtype (p=0.537).
Conclusion: Non-neoplastic ovarian lesions were more frequent than neoplastic lesions, with follicular cysts and serous cystadenoma representing the predominant non-neoplastic and neoplastic diagnoses, respectively. Ovarian lesions occurred across all age groups without significant differences in their histopathological distribution. Histopathological examination remains essential for accurate diagnosis and classification.
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