Large solitary luteinized follicle cyst of pregnancy and puerperium: A clinicopathological analysis of eight cases.

Eight cases of a rare type of ovarian cyst with distinctive clinical and pathologic features are reported. The patients presented with a palpable adnexal mass during pregnancy or the puerperium, or with a unilateral ovarian cyst during cesarean section at term. There were no associated endocrine disturbances. The cysts were large, solitary and unilocular and had a median diameter of 25 cm. On microscopical examination they were lined by luteinized cells that exhibited focal marked nuclear atypicality. All six patients who were followed postoperatively were alive and well at intervals of 5--68 months, suggesting that the cysts were luteinized follicle cysts related to the high gonadotropin levels of pregnancy rather than cystic neoplasms.