GynoFiles

Women have about a lifetime  15-20% chance of having a tumor of the ovary.The 15-20% chance includes all the ovarian cysts as well as (the much less common condition of ovarian cancer. How to determine whether a growth on the ovary actually is something that will resolve or not most often is determined by ultrasound and observation. However, some will come to surgery, as shown in this series of pictures.  Ovarian Cyst Found after Pelvic Exam, and Seen on Ultrasound The cyst Then Seen At the Time of Diagnostic Laparoscopy The Cyst Opened, Clear Fluid Was Discarded, and Pathology Showed a Non-Cancerous Cyst Called Serous Cyst Adenoma

Women have about a lifetime  15-20% chance of having a tumor of the ovary.The 15-20% chance includes all the ovarian cysts as well as (the much less common condition of ovarian cancer. How to determine whether a growth on the ovary actually is something that will resolve or not most often is determined by ultrasound and observation. However, some will come to surgery, as shown in this series of pictures.  Ovarian Cyst Found after Pelvic Exam, and Seen on Ultrasound The cyst Then Seen At the Time of Diagnostic Laparoscopy The Cyst Opened, Clear Fluid Was Discarded, and Pathology Showed a Non-Cancerous Cyst Called Serous Cyst Adenoma

If you have a hysterectomy for a cancer of the ovary, the ovaries do need to be removed for the most successful treatment. However, medical teaching has led us to feel one day ovaries are in, and then the next day they are out! But there are some important considerations. At the time of hysterectomy many women need the ovaries removed because of the same medical problem that led them to need a hysterectomy. The removal of both ovaries is called bilateral salpinoophorectomy or BSO But some women are focused on the fact that 1/70 women will get ovarian cancer in their lifetime, and ovarian and tubal removal will reduce this number significantly. Breast cancer patients may do better with ovarian removal and that is another reason that is a good reason to have your ovaries removed at the time of hysterectomy. In the Nurses Health Study , published in Obstetrics and Gynecology April 2013, they have begun to look very closely at what happens to women make a decision to just have thei...

Ovarian cyst, deflated, and uterine specimen at time of hysterectomy Benign Ovarian Cyst Tubal Torsion

Teenagers have lots of growing up to do. This is true even of their ovaries! Polycystic ovaries, or ovaries with lots of little cysts, are occasionally diagnosed in teen years, but oddly, this may not be a permanent condition. Actually a new study looked at girls who had an ultrasound diagnosis of polycystic ovarian condition and then  did repeat ultrasound testing two years later. Moms do not have to worry bout this condition with the first menstrual period.It's a condition that does not develop before or during puberty, it is apparently not seen for the first two years of menstrual cycles in most girls. In general, about 50% of the teens that had polycystic ovaries on ultrasound will not have the condition in two years. Some of the teens with the polycystic ovaries will have male hormone levels that are high and with these high levels a lot of acne or excess hair growth. If the only problem found is a cystic ovary, and no other problems, the teen won't likely have to worry a...

Women having hysterectomy are often faced with a question: do you keep your ovaries or remove the ovaries, and a further question, do you remove just one? But researchers from the British Columbia Cancer Agency in 2013 have found some research that puts women in a position to keep their ovaries, and still have a surgical solution that will reduce their lifetime chances of ever getting ovarian cancer! Worldwide there are over 200,000 cases of ovarian cancer each year, there are about 14,000 cases in the USA alone. Ovarian cancer is a deadly disease and each year about 140,000 women die of the disease. Of ovarian cancer cases over 10,000 American Women will die of their disease. but getting one's ovaries out is a big decision. Removing both ovaries reduces your chance of ovarian cancer by about 98%. Removing one ovary according to a National Institute of Health study headed by John Chan MD in 2014, did reduce your chances of ovarian cancer by about half. Since we do over 500,000 h...

Polycystic ovaries have many effects on the rest of our boidies. For some women they lead to the medical conditions of diabetes, hypertension and gall bladder disease. For some they lead to unwanted acne or hair growth. They may make weight increase and polycystic ovaries may make it more difficult to loose weight. But when it comes to menopause: There is actually improvement! There are fewer eggs surviving in our ovaries as we get older, so as a women gets older the contribution of each little cyst begins to diminish!Polycystic patients who may have never had regular cycles, unlike their friends who are reportting more period problems, may actually see their cycles normalize for the first time. Of course a bit of weight loss, adherence to nutritional recommendations overall, and more exercise may also be the reason some women are 'cured' of their polycystic ovaries as they age, so there is much we need to know about!

We've suspected for a long time that there are physiological factors working against our best efforts to help our PCOS patients effectively loose weight and studies have been confirming that this is true. PCOS patients have been known to have diabetic tendencies. they screen too much insulin, both on a chronic basis and in response to even normal blood sugar levels. Over time this derangement in physiology can both lead to overt diabetes as well as weight gain. But the type of fat cells these patients have and the way the local fat-hormone metabolism works may be most of the reason that weight gain is a problem. The fat hormone adiponectin helps control how fat is released from fatty tissue and metabolized. Women with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) seem to have a deficiency of this important hormone. And now they are found to have larger fat cells as well. These big cells just want to contain more fat, and hold on to that fat more  tightly. But if you have PCOS, don't ...

Many times a small, thought to be benign (non-cancerous) cyst is found on a routine pelvic examination , a check up for yeast,   a pelvic examination for a urinary tract infection, or a test being done for another medical problem: like a CT scan for suspected kidney stone or bowel disease. Most of these ovarian cysts will resolve on their own and do not need further treatment. But your gynecologist will want to watch to make sure the cyst in fact does resolve. For young women who are under the age of 40 and in whom the ultrasound looks like the cyst clearly has a less than 1% chance of being cancer the correct treatment in most cases is going to be a wait and watch approach. It’s important for women to realize that the watching has no firm time sequence, but   is still important as rarely do benign cysts transition into cancerous ones, and it’s important to be watched for any signs of this however remote a possibility it is.   All physicians will agree that you need ...

Photography W. Scifres Women might want to know their Hoogland score , because it would give you a hint as to whether or not you are protected against getting pregnant when using birth control pills (OCP ). One of the main ways to detect effectiveness of birth control and cycle control is to measure how little one ovulates, medically termed "ovarian suppression." There is an official, gyno endorsed, way to measure ovarian suppression during OCP use: it is cored on 6 features of possible egg development: 1. no evidence of any ovarian activity on ultrasound, 2. potential activity on ultrasound, 3. non-active follicle like structures, 5) luteinized unruptured follicle and 6 ) ovulation . Other factors contribute to how successful the ovarian suppression is.  Measuring estrogen levels, and thickness of the lining of the uterus called the endometrium, and measuring progesterone for evidence of ovulation can all contribute towards making a diagnosis of ovulation. We use the...

Castelo-Branco and authors in their 2009 publication in Climacteric have looked into the risks of having low sexual desire after having your ovaries out. They found that nearly 3 out of every 4 women after having their ovaries removed are at risk of HSDD, or the low desire disorder. This is of course complicated by issues like having just been sterilized . Looking at women over the first 5 years after they have lost their ovaries is the time of the most turmoil and the most confusion as to how a women is interpreting her feelings v her hormonal changes. Age also is an important factor in how we respond sexually, with older women functioning more poorly, but actually caring a bit less about it, in many cases. Women need blood flow and circulation for best stimulation of the clitoral and vaginal areas. Hypertensive patients who have presumed lower genital blood flow to the region report lower sexual function. Loosing the ovaries may not change the immediate circulation in that area,...

Where does it hurt? Right or left? Did you try a bit of your favorite mint tea? Still hurting? It could be an ovarian cyst, and that you can get diagnosed by a pelvic examination or an ultrasound. And if you are found to have one? We have discussed than many will in fact resolve. But the newest study from the University of Missouri-KC has looke a bit more into what is the fate of these cysts not just based on looks and size. and what they found, was simple but novel! The newest information is that Right sided ovarian cysts are more likely to resolve than left sided ones! So left sided cysts are more likely to require treatment!

Dermoid cyst's Hair Dermoid cyst with hair and fat How common is it to have a cyst before the first period? Don't worry mom, the quick answer is that they are very common. And yet they can cause pain, they can require medical attention, and rarely  they will require surgery. The most common cysts are the so called functional cysts. They are just big swellings of the ovary filled with water. If not a functional cyst, then it is more likely to be a dermoid or a cystadenoma or an endometrioma. Dermoids can have any body part that a human has. Most often they contain fat and hair, sometimes they contain teeth or other oddities. So if a teen has irregular periods, or stomach pain that is more than just occasional twinge, she should get it checked by a gyno! Simple cysts, like the one seen in ultrasound can be watched, unless they are bigger than 10 centimeters, which this one actually is. Dermoid cysts and endometriomas have to be removed.