Recently my wife was diagnosed with a dermoid cyst on her right ovary. We have had two miscarriages in the past 18 months and have been through a battery of tests with no indications of a problem. Could a dermoid cyst cause a miscarriage?

Mike

A dermoid cyst is a noncancerous tumor of the ovary. It results from the spontaneous activation of an egg. The egg does not know it was not fertilized and that it is missing half the genetic information it needs to form a baby. As a result, the cyst may contain a variety of disorganized tissues such as skin, hair, nerve fibers, bone and cartilage. Surgical removal is the appropriate treatment. Malignancy is quite rare. It is not likely that this sort of ovarian cyst has anything to do with the two prior miscarriages.