Massive ovarian edema: a nonneoplastic pelvic mass of young women

Two cases of massive ovarian edema are reported in addition to the eight previous cases published in the English literature. The predominance of the right-sided involvement and the histopathological characteristics of this lesion support the hypothesis that the basic pathogenetic mechanism is an impairment of the venous and lymphatic drainage of the ovary, triggered by recurrent partial torsion of the mesovarium. This nonneoplastic lesion should be recognized as a distinct entity in ovarian disease and treated conservatively.