Sonographic and Clinicopathologic Characteristics of Ovarian Sclerosing Stromal Tumor

  Objective  To investigate the sonographic and clinicopathologic characteristics of the ovarian sclerosing stromal tumor (OSST).

  Methods  The clinical, pathological, and sonographic records of 12 patients with pathologically confirmed OSST between March 1996 and September 2013 were retrospectively reviewed, and the sonographic characteristics of the OSSTs were analyzed.

  Results  Eight of these 12 patients complained of irregular menstruation. Abnormal hormone levels were observed in 6 patients and elevated CA125 in 4 patients. All OSSTs occurred unilaterally. Under the ultrasound, the tumors manifested as lobulated in 10 patients (83.3%), and all the lesions had a sharp border. The tumors were solid with small cystic structures in 7 patients (58.3%) and purely solid in 4 patients (33.3%). For the solid parts, the tumors were hypo-echoic in 8 cases (66.7%) and heterogeneously echogenic in 12 cases (100%). Thin hyper-echoic strips were seen in 10 cases (83.3%) and posterior attenuation in 11 cases (91.7%). The lesions were hyper-vascularized in 10 cases (83.3%), and spoke-like distribution of the blood flow was a unique feature.

  Conclusions  OSSTs have special clinical manifestations, and the ultrasound findings are consistent with their pathological features. Ultrasonography is particularly useful for the preoperative diagnosis of OSSTs.