Background and Objective:
The safety of laparoscopic surgery in women with a family history of ovarian cancer predicted to have benign disease has not been established. The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and complications of operative laparoscopy and to describe the pathologic findings in this patient population. Methods: Sixty-two consecutive women with a family history of ovarian cancer who elected prophylactic oophorectomy or had predicted benign adnexal disease were offered laparoscopic surgery. Patient characteristics, details of laparoscopic surgery, operative and postoperative complications, and histopathologic findings were recorded. Results: Laparoscopy was converted to laparotomy in 2 patients (3.2%); 1 patient (1.6%) had an operative vascular complication, and 1 patient (1.6%) had postoperative bleeding. Median (range) estimated blood loss, operative time, and hospital stay were 50 ml (50-1,500), 120 min (60-290), and 1 day (0-9), respectively. Histopathologic findings included normal ovaries (n โซืกโฌ 20), corpus luteum cyst (n โซืกโฌ 16), follicular cyst (n โซืกโฌ 8), endometriotic cyst (n โซืกโฌ 7), serous cystadenoma (n โซืกโฌ 5), epithelial hyperplasia (n โซืกโฌ 4), dermoid cyst (n โซืกโฌ 1), and fibrothecoma (n โซืกโฌ 1). Conclusions: Laparoscopic surgery is feasible and safe in women with a family history of ovarian cancer predicted to have benign disease and is associated with low blood loss and short hospital stay. Most ovaries removed are either normal or have benign disease.