Case Report

Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery for the Treatment of Symptomatic Uterine Fibroids

Table 1

Summary table for uterine fibroids.

EtiologyUnknown

Incidence>60% over the age of 45 years

Age predilection>30 years

Risk factorsAge, black race, early age at menarche, familial predisposition, overweight, polycystic ovary syndrome, diabetes, hypertension, nulliparity

SymptomsMenorrhagia, dysmenorrhea, anemia, pelvic pressure or pain, urinary symptoms, constipation, backache or leg pains, dyspareunia, infertility, or miscarriage

TreatmentTreatment is required in up to 25% of women. Treatment options include medications, such as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gn-RH) agonists, hysterectomy, myomectomy, myolysis, uterine artery embolization, MR-guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery (MRgFUS)

PrognosisBenign tumor, excellent prognosis. In general, they begin to shrink after menopause, and they can grow quickly during pregnancy. They may also bleed into themselves, degenerate, become cystic, calcify, or undergo sarcomatous degeneration (<1% of cases)

Findings on MR imagingWell-defined uterine mass with uniformly low signal intensity as compared to the myometrium on T2-w images and iso-hypointense to the myometrium on T1-w images that enhances homogeneously when gadolinium is administered intravenously. Degenerated fibroids show complex appearance with high or heterogeneous signal on T2-w and postcontrast images