Treatment of Uterine Fibroids by Using Magnetic Resonance-guided Focused Ultrasound Ablation: the initial experience in Taiwan

Reprint requests to: Dr. Chi-Ming Lee Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Taipei Medical University Hospital. No. 252, Wu Hsing Street, Taipei 110, Taiwan, R.O.C. Uterine leiomyomas (f ibroids) are the most common benign neoplasm in women of childbearing age. Magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound ablation (MRgFUS) has been used worldwide to treat symptomatic uterine fibroids over the past few years. This paper describes our experiences with three patients that were treated with MRgFUS for uterine f ibroids and their follow-up status after 3 months. Three patients with uterine f ibroids underwent MRgFUS on February, 2009. Before the treatment and at 3 months post-treatment, we used the Uterine Fibroid Symptoms and Quality of Life Questionnaire (UFS-QOL) to determine symptom severity scores (SSS). We also evaluate the change in fibroid volume after 3 months using T1-weighted contrast enhanced MRI images. No serious or unexpected adverse events arose during the study. All patients were followed up for 3 months. The fibroid volume reduction after 3 months was 30.8% in average, and SSS reduction after 3 months was 30.6%. Our results demonstrate that MRgFUS can safely and effectively ablate uterine fibroids to produce a significant decrease in mean fibroid volume and improvement in SSS for up to 3 months post-treatment.