The women have two ovaries and each one is connected to a Fallopian tube. The ovaries are responsible for producing an egg each month and it is not necessarily to produce it alternately. In case one ovary is removed the menstruation will continue to come because the other ovary will produce eggs every month. This egg forms inside a follicle and once it is mature enough it is released from there towards the uterus. The ovaries contain a lot of small follicles but only one is chosen every month to grow in sizes and nurture the egg. After the egg is mature the follicle will rupture and the egg will be set free. The follicle will shrink and transform into the luteum corpus. If the egg is not fecundated the corpus luteum will dissolve and disappear. If this process is affected, the functional ovarian cysts will form.

The cysts can sometimes be silent meaning that it does not give any symptoms and it is generally found during a regular pelvic examination. In other situations the cyst can grow so much that it might press on the bladder and bowel. The patient might feel pain or pelvic pressure. In some cases abnormal bleeding can appear, and if the cyst twists it can cause gangrene in the ovary. This is associated with intense pain and is considered to be an emergency.

Most of the ovarian cysts are benign but in women aged over 40 the risk that the cyst to be malignant is higher.

One case of the ovarian cyst can be the fertility treatment followed by some women. In other cases endometriosis causes the cysts to install.

An ultrasound exam must be done as it can confirm the diagnosis, it can measure the size of the cyst and based on it the doctors will install a proper treatment.

Treating an ovarian cyst is not easy and all the future methods of treatment a doctor will apply depend on the patient's age, health condition and future pregnancy plans. In some cases after two or three weeks the cysts disappear without any treatment so it is best to wait a while and see if any signs of regression of the cysts appear or if medication is needed. It seems that contraceptive drugs can prevent the forming of the ovarian cysts and sometimes they can even shrink the existing cysts.

Surgery is the last possibility of treatment and is applied in those cases that do not respond to hormonal medication. Laparoscopic surgery is an option and in some cases which need ovary removal the classic surgery will be performed.

The laparoscopic surgery is made with the help of the laparoscope, an instrument which has an optic camera which will be placed through the navel and small instruments which will be placed inside the abdomen through small incisions near the bikini line. The best thing about laparoscopic surgery is that it leaves only tiny marks on the skin and the patient recovers very fast from the surgery. The patient can leave the hospital during the same day and will be able to go to work after two weeks of rest.