The Natural History of Uterine Leiomyomas: Morphometric Concordance with Concepts of Interstitial Ischemia and Inanosis
Figure 4
Fibroid phases: microvessel density. (a) In this panel, a representative photo of Factor 8 immunostaining from a fibroid in each of the 4 phases is shown. In some tumors the concentration of vessels was variable from one area to another, and within the fibroids of each phase there was a range of microvessel counts. However, the overall trend was one of decreasing vascularity with progression from phase 1 to 4. In phase 4 tumors, a prominent decrease in microvessel density was often noted within the hypocellular, hyalinized areas, as seen in the left half of the phase 4 tumor in (4). All images were taken with the 10x objective. (b) Bar graph of mean microvessel counts from each phase. Although the microvessel density varied among the individual tumors of each phase, the mean values declined from phase 1 to 4. There were 5 samples per phase group and the values represent the mean ± SEM. Significantly different from phases 2, 3, and 4 ().
