Ovarian tumors in patients aged upto 20 years: a longitudinal study conducted in a tertiary care centre, West Bengal, India

Background: International treatment guidelines dedicated to children and adolescents are not yet established, hence need for such studies like ours is required to throw light on demographic variations of ovarian tumors and developing specific guidelines for their management.Methods: It was a descriptive longitudinal study undertaken in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology from February 2018 to July 2019. According to prevalence in our setup, 50 cases of adolescent girls and children were taken for study and subjected to thorough clinical assessment and investigations. After proper diagnosis, surgery was performed in all cases and depending upon histopathology and cytology, adjuvant chemotherapy was given in selected cases. Patients were followed up till 6 months after discharge.Results: The most common symptom was found to be abdominal pain (42%), most common sign abdominal mass (38%). Out of 50 cases, 12% were found to be malignant, all of germ cell origin. Epithelial tumors were found to be the most common ovarian tumors (52%) up to 20 years of age, out of which benign tumors had 48% epithelial origin. However, up to 10 years of age, germ cell tumors were found to be the most common (75%). Only 1 malignant case expired, belonging to mixed germ cell variety of advanced stage.Conclusions: Ovarian neoplasm is highly challenging, especially in adolescents and children due to the need for fertility preservation. Early detection, optimal therapy and intense follow up with psychological support to patients and families are the mainstay of treatment.