What are fibroids or uterine fibroids? How to diagnose uterine fibroids? Uterine fibroids, also called fibroids or leiomyomas, are benign tumors formed in the muscle of the womb (or uterus).Uterine fibroids are very common, many women will extant them throughout their lives, and they tend to grow in reproductive age and with pregnancy, while at menopause, they tend to shrink.
Uterine fibroids can be single or multiple and are classified, according to their location in the womb, as subserosal, intramural, or submucosal fibroids.
How to diagnose uterine fibroids
If you think you may have a fibroid, the USA Fibroid Center can help you with uterine fibroids diagnosis. We have the best specialists to diagnose and treat uterine fibroids.
Most fibroids will not cause symptoms, but when they do, the most frequent are:
- Abnormal bleeding: It is the most frequent symptom upon fibroids diagnosis. It can appear in the form of very abundant or very long periods and bleeding outside of menstruation which can cause anemia and affect the woman’s quality of life.
- Pelvic pressure and pain: By compression, some fibroids can cause difficulties in urination, frequent urination, constipation, or abdominal pressure. Fibroids can also cause pain in the pelvis or lower back, painful periods, or pain with intercourse.
- Affectation of fertility: Some fibroids can cause difficulties in getting pregnant, increased risk of miscarriage, and pregnancy complications.
How do we make the diagnosis of a uterine fibroid?
Ultrasound is the fibroids diagnosis test that will confirm the presence of a uterine fibroid. Transvaginal, abdominal, or combined ultrasound allows us to visualize the womb and ovaries using ultrasound, detecting fibroids, among other alterations. If we add a Doppler study to the ultrasound, we can obtain more information about the fibroid.
In some cases, it may be necessary to carry out other complementary uterine fibroids diagnosis orexaminations, such as hysterosonography, magnetic resonance imaging, or hysteroscopy.
Does a uterine fibroid affect a woman’s fertility?
This is a very debatable topic. It is known that submucosal fibroids can increase the chances of miscarriage, and removing them is recommended before trying to get pregnant. Subserous fibroids, on the other hand, do not usually interfere at all with a woman’s fertility. The role of intramural fibroids is more controversial, and it seems that, depending on their size, they may or may not influence fertility.
Uterine fibroids diagnosis at the USA Fibroid Centers:
Uterine fibroids are the most frequent uterine tumors. EU is a minimally invasive procedure. The main indication is the treatment of symptomatic fibroids consists of catheterization of the uterine arteries and embolization with PVA or spherical particles, causing necrosis and reduction of fibroids.
MRI is the best imaging technique for diagnosis, pre-treatment evaluation, and subsequent follow-up. The number, size, and location of fibroids should be reported.
After the EU, the MRI shows a reduction in the size of the fibroid and the uterus. The absence of contrast uptake of the fibroid after embolization indicates a good prognosis. The maximum diameter of the uterus and fibroids decreases from 13.7 cm and 7.6 cm to 10.4 cm and 5 cm, respectively. 6/10 patients do not require other treatments.
Conclusion:
EU is a safe and valuable procedure for treating symptomatic fibroids, with an efficacy of 95% in our series.
MRI is the best imaging technique for evaluation before treatment and after uterine embolization.
Get a fibroids diagnosis now!
We have extensive experience in uterine fibroids diagnosis and treatment at the USA Fibroid Centers. We will advise you on the different options, offering you the latest advances in fibroids diagnosis, monitoring, and medical and surgical treatment of uterine fibroids.
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