title: Laparoscopic management of suspicious ovarian cysts in elderly, postmenopausal women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present our experience with laparoscopic treatment of ovarian cysts in elderly, postmenopausal women.
  
  
  METHODS
  During the period January 1996 to August 1997, 21 elderly, postmenopausal women were admitted to the Rabin Medical Center for laparoscopy. The indications for the operation were an ovarian cyst that did not meet the criteria of a simple cyst, was larger than 4 cm, had pathological Doppler flow or elevated CA-125 level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age of the patients was 67.19 (range 60-74). Despite the fact that 15 (71.4%) of the patients suffered from chronic disease, all laparoscopies were successfully accomplished. No case of malignancy was found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Laparoscopic management of carefully selected ovarian cysts is an appropriate alternative for exploratory laparotomy even in elderly patients with or without underlying diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Krissi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dekel
authors.forename: I B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Hava
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Orvieto
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dicker
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shalev
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ben-Rafael
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019160:Endosonography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008875:Middle Aged; D010048:Ovarian Cysts / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D017698:Postmenopause; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies