Glandular cysts are of unlimited growth. They increase in size until they destroy the woman by direct pressure. They literally crowd her out of existence.
The size they may attain is determined only by the powers of resistance of the woman and the distensibility of the abdominal walls. Glandular cysts have been removed that weighed 200 pounds.
The shape of the glandular cyst is approximately spherical. It is often distorted by pressure, and portions of the tumor may represent a mould of parts of the pelvic or posterior abdominal walls.
The glandular cyst is usually unilateral. The proportion of cases in which both ovaries are affected seems to be about 4 per cent.
In some cases, when both ovaries are affected, the cysts may become fused, so that a single tumor is formed, attached by two distinct pedicles. Operation in such cases is often very embarrassing.
The glandular cyst is the most common form of ovarian tumor. It may occur at any time of life from childhood to old age. It is most common between the ages of twenty and fifty.
Dermoid Cysts.—A dermoid cyst of the ovary is characterized by the presence of skin and cutaneous appendages. Dermoid cysts are found in various parts of the body, but they occur most frequently in the ovary. Of 188 dermoid cysts reported by Lebert, 129 occurred in the ovary.
Dermoid cysts comprise from 4 to 5 per cent. of all ovarian tumors.
Simple ovarian dermoids are usually of small or moderate size, varying from the size of a hen’s egg to that of the adult head. The cysts rarely contain more than 8 pints of fluid.
Dermoid cysts may become larger by fusion with glandular cysts or as the result of inflammation. Dermoid cysts are usually unilateral; both ovaries are affected in about 20 per cent. of the cases. They are primarily unilocular. Sometimes two or more dermoid cysts spring from the same ovary, and these contemporaneous cysts may become united, and the contiguous walls may atrophy so that the cavities communicate.