Unusual Presentation of Antenatal Ovarian Torsion: Free-Floating Abdominal Cysts. Our Experience and Surgical Management

BACKGROUND:Abdominal cystic formations in newborns are relatively common and often diagnostic suspicion arises before birth as a result of ultrasound scans carried out during pregnancy. Prenatal ovarian torsion is a rare condition very difficult to manage in the first days of life. We report and discuss the management of prenatal ovarian torsion with a free-floating abdominal cyst detected on prenatal ultrasound.MATERIALS AND METHODS:We recorded the cases of antenatal abdominal cysts detected on ultrasound at the Department of Antenatal Diagnosis between January 2003 and January 2007. Only patients with a free-floating cyst were included in the study. Clinical and surgical findings were then recorded.RESULTS:Two out of 57 patients underwent surgery for a free-floating abdominal cyst during the second day of life. Postnatal ultrasound, Doppler ultrasound, and laparoscopic exploration were useful to identify an unusual presentation of antenatal ovarian torsion with a complete atresia of the Fallopian tube.CONCLUSIONS:The cases reported in this study suggest that a good clinical approach to all cases of abdominal cysts detected on prenatal ultrasound scans require postnatal Doppler and abdominal ultrasound with a laparoscopic exploration. Free-floating abdominal cysts are rare but, at the same time, strictly correlated with autoamputation of the ovary/Fallopian tube complex.