The safety of laparoscopic surgery in women with a family history of ovarian cancer predicted to have benign disease has not been established. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and complications of operative laparoscopy and to describe the pathologic findings in this patient population. Sixty-two consecutive women with a family history of ovarian cancer who elected prophylactic oophorectomy or had predicted benign adnexal disease were offered laparoscopic surgery. Patient characteristics, details of laparoscopic surgery, operative and postoperative complications, and histopathologic findings were recorded. Laparoscopic surgery is feasible and safe in women with a family history of ovarian cancer predicted to have benign disease and is associated with low blood loss and short hospital stay.
Most ovaries removed are either normal or have benign disease.
A prospective cohort study. Nonpregnant women aged 18 to 75 years with benign cellular changes on a Papanicolaou smear were recruited from primary care clinics of an urban teaching hospital. At 12 months colposcopy was performed. The main study outcome was the proportion of subjects with CIN as determined by colposcopic biopsy specimens. Underlying CIN was significantly more common in women younger than 35 years or who had a history of Trichomonas infection or venereal warts, a positive human papillomavirus test result, or abnormal follow-up smears.