Summary of the study
Uterine artery embolization has been shown to be an effective treatment for fibroids. However, there are some concerns that long term results may not be as good.
Previous studies have shown that there is a need for further treatment after embolization. This new study clarifies these issues and shows:
- Uterine artery embolization has highly effective initial outcome after having the procedure.
- At five year follow-up of patients, the study shows low rates of need for repeat intervention after having a fibroid treated by embolization.
Highlights
- Uterine artery embolization provides sustained symptom improvement with low reintervention rate of 10.4% at five years.
- Near complete (90–99%) or partial (<90%) infarction of the dominant leiomyoma was an independent factor for reintervention.
- The presence of non-dominant viable leiomyomas on follow-up MRI was an independent factor for reintervention.
Study Reference:
Five-year clinical outcomes of uterine artery embolization for symptomatic leiomyomas: An analysis of risk factors for reintervention. Yoon JK, Han K, Kim MD, Kim GM, Kwon JH, Won JY, Lee DY. Dec 2018, Volume 109, Pages 83–87
