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What are Uterine Fibroids?

Fibroids are extremely common benign tumors arising from the uterus. By the time they turn 45 years of age, 20%-40% of all women will suspect they have fibroids because they will experience some symptoms related to the fibroids. However, ultrasound examination has shown that up to 80% of women this age group actually have fibroids.The majority of fibroids are therefore believed to be asymptomatic.

Fibroid tumors are benign tumors of the muscular wall of the uterus. It is extremely rare to confuse other tumors for fibroids. The fibroids grow slowly throughout the reproductive life of a woman. When a woman reaches menopause the fibroids stop growing and begin to shrink.

Although we do not know the exact cause of fibroids, hereditary factors clearly play a role. There are no scientifically proven ways for a patient to prevent fibroids from developing or to slow their growth.


Symptoms
Although the majority of fibroids will not cause symptoms, a significant number of women will suffer from symptoms attributable to their fibroids. These symptoms most often include:

• Heavy bleeding during menstrual periods (menorrhagia)
• Bleeding between menstrual periods (metrorrhagia)
• Pelvic, back, or leg pain/pressure
• Urinary frequency due to bladder compression
• Painful intercourse (dyspareunia)
• Fertility difficulties, in particular recurrent miscarriages

Because fibroids are benign, grow slowly, and are so common, treatment is generally reserved for those women with fibroid-related symptoms which affect the quality of their life or for patients in whom the fibroids are thought to be responsible for fertility problems.

Uterine Fibroid Embolization (U.F.E.)

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