Ectopic ovary: one new location

Abstract

Ectopic ovarian tissue is a rare gynecologic condition. Accessory ovaries were defined as excess ovarian tissue adjacent and connected to a normal ovary, while supernumerary ovaries were described as those ovaries situated away from normal ones. The one presented here is a case of a 20 year-old unmarried woman operated for recurrent abdominal pain. During laparoscopy we found a mass 2×1.5 cm in size in the ileum, located 80 cm from the ileocecal valve: the lesion was resected and an ileoileal anastomosis was performed, the anatomopathological examination of the mass proved to be ovarian tissue. The history of previous pelvic surgery with adhesiolysis, and the unusual location of the ectopic ovary, support the theory of an ovarian implant in the intestine, but the true ectopic ovary hypothesis is still probable because of the location of the ectopic ovary inside the intestinal wall. In any case, the location of ectopic ovary discussed here is unusual and perhaps unpublished before.