The year was 1997. Steve Jobs returned to Apple, the company he co-founded, after having been ousted twelve years earlier. Tiger Woods became the youngest player to win the Masters Tournament. The Palm Pilot, a personal digital assistant, was introduced. And the first uterine fibroid embolization procedure in the United States was performed at a Long Island, New York hospital.
UFE was the first minimally invasive imaging-guided procedure to treat fibroids. It was a unique and innovative approach—cut off blood supply to the fibroids, causing them to shrink and be absorbed by the body. Until that time, fibroids were treated by hysterectomy (surgical removal of the uterus) or myomectomy (surgical removal of the fibroids from within the uterus).
Nearly three decades later, UFE has emerged as a preferred front-line treatment for women suffering from uterine fibroids. Now that the procedure is nearly three decades old, what have we learned about the long-term results of this procedure?
A 2022 study showed that UFE “induces a significant long-term decrease in myoma (fibroid) size and perfusion while healthy uterine tissue remains unaffected.”1 This is significant because myomectomy (the surgical procedure to remove fibroids) has an up to 60% recurrence rate within 5 years, versus less than 5% for UFE.
Another long-term study was conducted that included questionnaires completed by UFE patients. The vast majority of patients experienced sustained symptom relief, including significant reductions in pain, bleeding, bulk-related symptoms and depression, as well as a significant increase in the quality-of-life index.2
While the long-term results are impressive, more work needs to be done to make women aware of UFE as an option. The majority of women (62%) are not yet aware of UFE, although that number drops to 44% for women diagnosed with fibroids.3
Interestingly, the majority of women (73%) who have heard of UFE did not first learn of it from their OB/GYN3, despite the fact that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) updated its guidelines to include UFE as a safe and effective treatment for uterine fibroids.
Therefore, it’s up to all of us to continue to spread the word so that women with symptomatic fibroids are aware of all their options… so that they can make a fully informed decision about how to treat them.
- Maliha Sadick et al. Long-term evaluation of uterine fibroid embolization using MRI perfusion parameters and patient questionnaires: preliminary results. BMC Medical Imaging 22, Article number: 214 (2022)
- Martin Popovic et al. Long-Term Quality of Life Assessment Among Patients Undergoing Uterine Fibroid Embolization. Women’s Imaging. Volume 193, Issue 1 November 23, 2012.
- Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) Harris Poll, June 2017.
