UFE and myomectomy show similar fertility rates
Published date : 27 April 2010
Article date : 27 April 2010
Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE) has a comparable fertility rate to myomectomy, the surgical removal of uterine fibroids, for women who want to conceive, according to the first study on the subject released at the recent SIR meeting.
“This study is significant because it shows comparable fertility rates between the two primary uterussparing treatments widely available to treat fibroids: UFE and surgical
myomectomy, which is considered the gold standard for symptomatic fibroids in women who wish to conceive,” said Dr João Martins Pisco, St Louis Hospital, Lisbon, Portugal. “These results are surprising because other studies have favoured surgical myomectomy over UFE for women who want to conceive.”
In the study of 743 women, UFE had a fertility rate of 58.1%, which is comparable to surgical fibroid removal (myomectomy), which has a fertility rate of 57%, explained Pisco.
“Our study proves that UFE not only allows women who were unable to conceive to become pregnant but also allows them to have normal pregnancies with similar complication rates as the general population in spite of being a high risk group,” he added. “In the future, UFE will probably be a first-line treatment option even for women who wish to conceive and are unable due to the presence uterine fibroids,” he noted.
