Successful intrauterine aspiration of a large fetal ovarian cyst

Abstract

A 32-year-old Bahraini lady with a large fetal intra-abdominal cyst detected antenatally on ultrasound examination at 16 weeks of gestation. The cyst was simple anechoic, increasing in size and causing progressive displacement of the fetal thoracic organs. A successful intrauterine needle aspiration was carried out under ultrasound guidance at 30 weeks gestation without maternal or fetal morbidity. Cytology of the cyst fluid showed luteinized granulosa cells and biochemistry demonstrated high concentrations of estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone that confirmed the etiology of the cyst as ovarian. There was no evidence of recurrence following aspiration and no further need for postnatal surgery.