Chocolate cyst is another name for which condition?

• A. Endometrioma
• B. Endometriosis
• C. PID
• D. Paraovarian cyst

Answer: (A)

Chocolate cyst refers to an ovarian endometrioma. It forms when endometrial tissue grows on or near the ovary and bleeds over time, filling the cyst with old, dark blood. That blood gives the characteristic brown, chocolate-like contents, which is why this cyst earned its name. Endometrioma is a specific ovarian manifestation of endometriosis, the condition of endometrial tissue existing outside the uterus. In contrast, endometriosis itself is the broader disease process; pelvic inflammatory disease is an infectious inflammation of the pelvic organs; and a paraovarian cyst is a separate cyst arising near the ovary from embryologic remnants. Thus, the chocolate cyst is the endometrioma.