Vulvovaginal tumors and pseudo-tumors: a clinicopathological analysis of 57 cases

OBJECTIVE: The vulva and vagina can be affected by a variety of lesions. The pathology of these organs has gained little attention in the literature compared to other gynecological organs. Our aim was to report clinical and pathological features of vulvovaginal tumors and pseudo-tumors (tumor-like lesions). We performed a retrospective study including consecutive vulvovaginal tumors and pseudo-tumors diagnosed at a single tertiary care center. RESULTS: We have registered 57 cases of vulvovaginal tumors and pseudo-tumors, with 30 cases (52.6%) from the vulva. The mean age was 38.55 years ± 16.65 (range of 5 months and 72 years), tumors were mostly cystic (17/30 cases, 56.7%) with a mean size of 3.9 cm ± 2.07 (range of 0.8 and 9 cm). There were 34 cases (59.6%) of benign lesions mostly Bartholin cysts (19.3%). The remaining cases were malignant tumors (23 patients, 40.4%) representing 12.7% of all gynecological cancers. Malignant tumors were mostly vaginal metastatic carcinomas (15 cases, 26.3%) from neighboring organs. Patients with vaginal lesions were older than those with vulvar lesions (43.64 years versus 34.01; p = 0.034). The vast majority of vaginal lesions were malignant in contrast to vulvar lesions (70.4% versus 13.4%; p < 0.001).