title: Treatment of huge uterine tumors thought to be benign in post-menopausal women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  When we find a huge uterine myoma-like tumor after menopause, we are hesitant whether to recommend surgery or not.
  
  
  METHODS
  In order to treat huge uterine tumors after menopause, we surgically removed a total of 25 uterine tumors over 10 cm in diameter from 25 post-menopausal women, and examined these tumors microscopically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Clinical assessments of the 25 tumors before surgery indicated that 24 were myomas and one was a sarcoma, based on cytology-, sonography- and MR imaging-examinations. However, the postoperative histological results revealed 22 leiomyomas, one leiomyosarcoma, one endometrial stromal sarcoma and one endometrial carcinoma at Ic stage complicated by multiple leiomyomas. Overall, 12% of the tumors were malignant (3/25 cases) and 8.3% were false negative cases (2/24 cases; diagnosed as myoma uteri) among the cases of huge uterine tumors after
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When a huge uterine tumor after menopause is diagnosed clinically as myoma uteri, surgery should be recommended since there ia a significant chance of malignancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Himeji National Hospital, 68 Honmachi, Himeji City, Hyogo 670-8520, Japan.
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koshiyama
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003581:Cytodiagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007889:Leiomyoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D007890:Leiomyosarcoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*