Surgical lesions of the ovary in infancy and childhood

In 27 years, 64 patients were operated upon for ovarian lesions, 43 for tumors, 12 for nonneoplastic cysts and nine for ovarian torsion. Of all the girls in this age group who were operated upon for appendicitis, 2 percent had ovarian lesions. Of the girls referred for isosexual precocity in the last ten years, 4.7 per cent had ovarian lesions. Of the girls in this age group operated upon for malignant abdominal lesions, excluding hepatic, in the last 15 years, 10.8 per cent had ovarian tumors. Of the 11 tumors with endocrine function, four were malignant. This association is statistically significant. There were no operative deaths. There were no postoperative deaths among six patients with Stage I and II lesions. Mortality was confined to the two patients with Stage III and IV lesions. The surgical approach was designed to conserve ovarian tissue, and adjunctive chemotherapy and radiotherapy were infrequently used.