Oestrogenic activity associated with ovarian cystadenomas after the menopause.

In a group of 59 patients over the age of 55 years with ovarian serous and mucinous cystadenomas, a total of 29 (49%) showed moderate or strong oestrogenic activity as determined by maturation index in vaginal cytologic smears, in contrast to nine (13%) of 70 control patients with other gynecological disorders than ovarian tumours. The bacterial flora was dominated by Döderlein type bacilli in 24 of the 27 test patients with an elevated maturation index, also reflecting the abnormal oestogenic activity in these patients. When the serous and mucinous cystadenoma groups were compared, a striking difference was found: of the 30 patients with mucinous cystadenomas, 23 (77%) displayed moderate of strong oestrogenic activity, while this was the case with only six (21%) of the 29 patients with serous cystadenomas. These findings stress the importance of an abnormal oestrogenic activity, revealed by an elevated cytologic maturation index, as memento for the possibility of post-menopausal ovarian cystadenoma.