A New Option For Women With Fibroids (NAPSA)—There’s encouraging news for the 5.5 million American women with symptomatic fibroids: A new, non-surgical treatment may offer substantial reductions in major symptoms, including pain, pelvic discomfort and urinary problems. Fibroids are non-cancerous tumors that form within the muscular wall or on the outer surface of the uterus. They are usually diagnosed in womenin their 30s and 40s, with symptoms that include bleeding, pelvic pain and bloated appearance, anemia and pressure on internal organs. Until recently, the most common treatments for this sometimes debilitating and painful condition were highly invasive procedures that required a long recovery. Now, interventional radiologists are offering women a new option. “Hysterectomy is no longer the only option for women with fibroids. There are now non-surgical ways of treating fibroids, such as uterine fibroid embolization (UFE),” says Dr. Karen Ehrman, interventional radiologist, Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, Ind. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently cleared a new device—Embosphere Microspheres—for use in UFE to treat symptomatic fibroids, a minimally Women should speak to their doctors about possible treatmentsfor fibroids. invasive procedure performed by an interventional radiologist. “During a UFE, an interven- tional radiologist places a catheter into the blood supply to the fibroids. We then inject tiny particles to block off the blood vessels. That causes the fibroids to shrink and die,” adds Ehrman. Dr. Linda Bradley, director of Hysterscopic Services, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, suggests that patients interested in UFE should first talk with their physicians to see about being a candidate for the procedure. She also recommends patients use the Internet and ask their physicians to help find other women who have undergone the procedure, in order to have questions answered. For more information on uterine fibroids and UFE, call 1-877- ASK-4UFEorvisit the Website at www.ASK4UFE.com.
