title: Evaluation of surgical staging in stage I low malignant potential ovarian tumors.
abstract: The charts and pathology specimens of 27 patients with ovarian tumors of low malignant potential were reviewed in an attempt to document the rationale for a second laparotomy in those patients with clinical stage 1 disease and who did not have a complete staging laparotomy at their initial surgery. Four of 13 patients with serous tumors, none of 12 patients with mucinous tumors, and one patient with a mixed tumor of LMP were upstaged at the staging laparotomy. The major morbidity rate associated with the procedure was 7.4%. The low yield of a staging laparotomy in patients with mucinous tumors (0%) does not warrant a second operation. The higher yield of a staging laparotomy in patients with serious tumors (30.8%) suggests that the likelihood of upstaging the disease exceeds the potential morbidity, and for this reason, the procedure may be warranted. However, the specific role of a staging laparotomy even in those with serous tumors awaits further study of the prognostic significance of invasive versus noninvasive implants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Calgary, Foothills Hospital, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Snider
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Stuart
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Nation
authors.forename: D I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Robertson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007813:Laparotomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016019:Survival Analysis