Cytologic examination of ovarian cyst fluid for the distinction between benign and malignant tumors.

Abstract

To assess the feasibility of using cytologic examination of ovarian cyst fluid for distinguishing between benign and malignant tumors. Cyst fluid was aspirated at surgery in 83 women with benign and 35 women with malignant (25 invasive and ten borderline) ovarian tumors and submitted for routine cytologic examination. The specificity of the cytologic examination was 100%, but the sensitivity and negative predictive value were only 26 and 76%, respectively. The low sensitivity and negative predictive value of cytologic cyst fluid examination preclude its use for the distinction between benign and malignant ovarian tumors.