Opting for conservative management over surgery for neonatal ovarian cysts

To explore the suitability of conservative management for neonatal ovarian cysts in newborns.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted, involving infants diagnosed with neonatal abdominal/pelvic cysts at two separate medical institutions from January 2015 through July 2021. Data collection included clinical characteristics, imaging results, pathological findings, and postnatal outcomes. Statistical analyses were performed using the Student's t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

In total, 34 cases of neonatal abdominal/pelvic cystic masses were detected, with mean birth weight of 3401 ± 515 g. Of these, 22 patients underwent postnatal cystectomy/oophorectomy. Pathological assessments revealed 16 uncomplicated cysts, 5 complex cysts, and 1 ovarian cyst with torsion complications. Notably, the cysts' dimensions at the time of surgical intervention had significantly decreased from the initial measurements (p = 0.015). The ROC curve analysis presented an area under the curve of 0.642, indicating moderate accuracy in employing cyst size as a discriminative feature to differentiate complex from simple ovarian cysts. Additionally, a short-term follow-up of nonsurgical cases indicated a 100% resolution rate by 24 months of age (n = 9).

Given their predominantly benign nature, the majority of neonatal ovarian cysts seem to be amenable to conservative management. This approach remains justified for larger cysts with minimal torsion risk, as well as considering the observed reduction in cyst size at birth, which further supports the case against surgical intervention.