title: Adnexal masses and pregnancy: a 12-year experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our purpose was to describe pregnancy-associated adnexal masses in eastern North Carolina.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was performed of 60 adnexal masses resected during pregnancy at a regional referral hospital from January 1990 to March 2002.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Adnexal masses occurred in 0.15% of pregnancies. Average gestational age at diagnosis and surgery was 12 and 20 weeks, respectively. Fifty percent of ovarian tumors were mature cystic teratomas, 20% were cystadenomas, and 13% were functional ovarian cysts. Malignancy occurred in 13%. Tumors with low malignant potential comprised 63% of malignancies. Average cyst size was 11.5 cm for malignancies and 7.6 cm for benign lesions (P value <.05). The preterm birth rate was 9%, the miscarriage rate was 4.7% after elective cases, and average Apgar scores were 7.5 and 8.7 at 1 and 5 minutes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence of malignancy in pregnancy-associated adnexal masses was high. Ultrasonography detected internal excrescences in the majority of tumors with low malignant potential. Fetal outcomes were not affected.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, East Carolina University, Brody School of Medicine, Pitt County Memorial Hospital, Greenville, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Gordon B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Sherard
authors.forename: Charles A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Hodson
authors.forename: H James
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Diane A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Semer
authors.forename: Hamid A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Hadi
authors.forename: David L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Tait
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000453:epidemiology; D000291:Adnexal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001034:Apgar Score; D003537:Cystadenoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D010048:Ovarian Cysts / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011252:Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013724:Teratoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology