title: Surgery of borderline tumors of the ovary: retrospective comparison of short-term outcome after laparoscopy or laparotomy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Laparoscopic management of borderline ovarian tumors is controversial.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To retrospectively compare outcome after surgery by laparoscopy or laparotomy for borderline tumors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ovarian tumors from all women operated at Ullevål University Hospital during a five-year period were re-evaluated histologically. Patients with borderline FIGO (International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics) stage I tumors were retrospectively compared regarding surgery outcome following laparoscopy or laparotomy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Histological re-evaluation revealed only 3 misclassifications in 608 patients. Borderline tumors represented 36% of epithelial ovarian malignancies. The 107 borderline stage I included 52 serous, 53 mucinous, and 2 endometrioid tumors. Thirty-eight patients were operated on primarily by laparoscopy and 69 by laparotomy (including 14 women starting with laparoscopy). In the laparoscopy group, more women were premenopausal (63% versus 35%, p=0.01) and median tumor diameter was smaller (8.6 versus 16.4 cm, p<0.001) as compared to the laparotomy group. When tumor diameter exceeded 10 cm, intraoperative tumor rupture was significantly more frequent during laparoscopy than during laparotomy (p=0.01). Less postoperative complications were seen after laparoscopic operations (p=0.034), but laparoscopic surgeries were less extensive, without hysterectomy, as compared to laparotomy. During the 14-78 months follow-up time, no relapse occurred in either group. After fertility-sparing surgery, there was no statistical significant difference regarding successful pregnancies between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Laparoscopic treatment of borderline ovarian tumors is feasible if tumor is of moderate size (diameter below 10 cm), gives fewer complications, and shorter hospital stay. Long-term follow-up of larger materials is needed to determine the ultimate recurrence risk as well as fertility rates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ullevål University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Elin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ødegaard
authors.forename: Anne Cathrine
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Staff
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Langebrekke
authors.forename: Vibeke
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Engh
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onsrud
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018284:Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007813:Laparotomy / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies