Abstract
Introduction: Ovarian cysts are the most common benign lesions detected by routine ultrasound (US) examination. Characterisation and classification by ultrasound play a central role in diagnosis and management and also helps to avoid complications, such as haemorrhage, torsion, and malignancy.
Aim: To classify ovarian cysts based on sonographic appearance and to explore the potential relationship of ovarian cysts with age, parity, occupation, and laterality within the ovaries.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from March 2015 to December 2015 in Khartoum state, Sudan, in which 100 women who were investigated with Transvaginal Ultrasound Scanning (TVS). Coronal, longitudinal and transverse sections were obtained through the ovaries using a 7 MHz probe to measure and characterise the cysts. Prevalence of the benign ovarian cysts was calculated and association of presence of these cysts with parity, age, occupation and laterality was observed. Chi square test was used to analyse the results.
Results: The classification of ovarian cysts among Sudanese women was as follows: Polycystic Ovaries (POC) comprised 50%, theca lutein cysts 20%, follicular cysts 19%, corpus luteal cysts 7% and haemorrhagic cysts 4%. POC mainly involved both ovaries and were common in nulliparous women and housewives (38% and 47.1%, respectively). It is significantly associated with parity (p-value=0.02) Theca lutein, follicular cysts and corpus luteal cysts were not significantly associated with parity, with p-values of 0.42, 0.18 and 0.66 respectively. Age, parity, laterality and cyst size were statistically significant factors affecting the classification of ovarian cysts, with p-values of <= 0.001, 0.02, <= 0.001and <= 0.001 respectively. The prevalence of benign ovarian cysts was more frequent in nulliparous women than multiparous. The incidence decrease with advancing age.
Conclusion: Sonographic evaluation is essential to classify and differentiate various types of benign ovarian cysts. Age, parity, laterality and cyst size were statistically significant factors influencing the occurrence and classification of ovarian cysts. POC and theca lutein cysts were the most frequent types of ovarian cysts in Sudanese women of reproductive age. These findings could be useful in decision making in clinical practice for gynecologists when evaluating several ovarian cysts.