UFE Highly Effective in Cases Where Focused Ultrasound to Treat Uterine Fibro...( Significant Relief of Symptoms No...),Health

Significant Relief of Symptoms Noted From Uterine Fibroid Embolization

WASHINGTON, March 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE), a minimally invasive interventional radiology treatment for uterine fibroids, provides significant relief of symptoms for women whose focused ultrasound (FUS) treatment failed, according to a study released today during the Society of Interventional Radiology's 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting in Washington, D.C. Primary care physicians and gynecologists can feel confident in informing patients that a failed FUS treatment does not require subsequent gynecological surgery. Those women can be successfully treated with UFE. Patients with a single large fibroid are candidates for FUS; patients with many fibroids, which is more often the case, would be better treated with UFE. There is limited long-term follow-up data for FUS and limited information on fibroid recurrence rates. In this retrospective study from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, seven post-FUS patients who experienced therapeutic failure and were subsequently re-treated with UFE were reviewed. In all patients, their symptoms -- such as heavy menstrual bleeding and the sensation of fullness or pressure in the lower abdomen -- improved.

"FUS is a newer procedure for uterine fibroids and whether it provides sustained symptom relief is still being evaluated. My research shows that when FUS fails, these women could benefit from uterine fibroid embolization," said Alisa Suzuki, M.D., interventional radiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Uterine fibroids are noncancerous (benign) growths that develop in the muscular wall of the uterus and are treated only if they are causing bothersome symptoms. With UFE, an interventional radiologist inserts a catheter into the femoral artery and using real-time imaging, guides the catheter up the artery and then releases tiny particles, the size of grains of sand, into the uterine ar
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