TUMOR TREATMENT SPARES WOMEN HYSTERECTOMIES : FIBROUS GROWTHS REMOVED WITHOUT SURGERY.Byline: Stacy Finz Daily News Staff Writer Doctors have developed a technique that can remove uterine fibroids Uterine Fibroids Definition Uterine fibroids (also called leiomyomas or myomas) are benign growths of the muscle inside the uterus. They are not cancerous, nor are they related to cancer. without requiring a hysterectomy hysterectomy (hĭstərĕk`təmē), surgical removal of the uterus. A hysterectomy may involve removal of the uterus only or additional removal of the cervix (base of the uterus), fallopian tubes (salpingectomy), and ovaries and major surgery, according to a UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX study released Tuesday. Benign fibroid tumors Fibroid tumors Fibroid tumors are non-cancerous (benign) growths in the uterus. They occur in 30-40% of women over age 40, and do not need to be removed unless they are causing symptoms that interfere with a woman's normal activities. affect between 20 percent and 40 percent of women who are 35 and older, and can cause excessive bleeding and painful cramping. The tumors can grow, cause great discomfort and could jeopardize fertility. ``Some of these women have a uterus as large as women who are five or six months' pregnant,'' said Dr. Scott Goddwin, chief of vascular and interventional radiology at UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. . Before this treatment, the only cures required a hysterectomy - the removal of the uterus - or a myomectomy, which leaves the uterus intact but requires several days' stay in the hospital, according to Dr. Suresh Vedantham. The UCLA study, released at an annual medical meeting in Washington, D.C., shows that the new one-hour procedure without surgery can eliminate the tumor or reduce its size by 65 percent. And it requires only a local anesthetic, doctors said. The procedure involves making a small incision less than one-quarter inch in the groin, placing a catheter into the artery and then guiding it to the uterus by using X-ray imaging. Through the catheter, doctors can inject small plastic particles that block the blood vessels feeding the tumor, thereby killing it. Eight of 10 patients treated in the study reported significant improvements at follow-up visits between two and eight months after undergoing the procedure. Since the study, doctors have performed the procedure on an additional 14 patients with promising results. ``After the procedure we observe the patient for six hours and then they're free to go home,'' said Vedantham, one of the researchers involved in the study. ``Some women can be back to work the next day.'' The other treatments require anesthesia and some period of recuperation recuperation /re·cu·per·a·tion/ (-koo?per-a´shun) recovery of health and strength. recuperation, n the process of recovering health, strength, and mental and emotional vigor. , according to doctors. Although doctors cannot guarantee that the new technique will preserve fertility, they said they believe that most women will be able to have babies after undergoing the treatment. At this time in the United States Time in the United States, by law, is divided into nine standard time zones covering the states and its possessions, with most of the United States observing daylight saving time for part of the year. , only UCLA Medical Center and City Avenue Hospital in Philadelphia are performing the procedure, he said. ``As word of the procedure spreads,'' he said, ``it will become more available.'' |
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