A NEW device that destroys tissue with sound waves has been successfully used to treat women with uterine fibroids.
The technology offers women an alternative to other treatments, including hysterectomy. British doctors, who have so far used the treatment on 100 women with fibroids, say it has huge potential for many of the one in four women who suffer with the condition.
Uterine fibroids are benign tumours that grow from the muscle beneath the lining of the womb. They usually go away after menopause.
The causes are not known and symptoms can vary. Up to half of all women with fibroids have heavy periods, and fibroids can also affect the shape of the uterus, making it more difficult to conceive. They can cause miscarriages and painful menstruation.
It is estimated that one in four women suffer with uterine fibroids, but that as many as 77 per cent of women may have the condition but be unaware because of the lack of obvious symptoms.
Treatments include hormone therapy, surgery to remove the growths, and hysterectomy. It is estimated that more than a quarter of women with problems may eventually require a hysterectomy – the most common procedure for treatment of the disease.
Each year around 45,000 women in the UK have a hysterectomy, requiring a recovery time of six to eight weeks. For a woman of reproductive age, it means that she will no longer be able to have children.
The new treatment on trial at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, offers a painless alternative and is carried out as an outpatient procedure. St Mary’s is the only centre in the UK taking part in an international trial.
The technology harnesses two systems: a magnetic resonance imaging or MRI machine to map the position of the fibroids and monitor temperatures in the womb, and a focused ultrasound beam that heats and destroys the fibroid tissue.
It is the first time these two systems have been combined, and the first time an MRI has been used to monitor tissue temperature.
The patient lies inside a scanner which provides three- dimensional images of the fibroid and surrounding tissue. These images are then used to target ultrasound waves at the fibroid. These raise the temperature in the fibroid, cutting off the blood supply and killing the tissue.
The scanner also carries out thermal imaging so that the whole procedure can be carefully monitored.
Research shows that the treatment is highly effective. In one study, the device was shown to reduce uterine fibroid problems for 71 per cent of women.
Researchers say that the technology has potential in other areas, too.
‘The ability to destroy a tumour from inside the body in a completely noninvasive manner represents a major advance in surgical procedure and strong promise for the treatment of a variety of tumours,’ said Professor Wladyslaw Gedroyc.
Sally Monck, 45, was one of the first to have the treatment. She had been suffering from heavy periods and severe period pain. ‘My doctor arranged an MRI scan, which showed that the fibroid was quite large – about 10 centimetres,’ she said.
‘I had to have hormone therapy, which involved implants for three months, because they wanted to shrink the fibroid.
‘I then had another scan, and they felt that it was small enough to have the ultrasound treatment. I felt fine almost straight way. There was no pain or any other symptoms.
‘A hysterectomy would have meant invasive surgery, and also have prevented me for driving for several weeks – which, with two boys to ferry around everywhere, would have been a problem.
‘I have since had another scan and everything is fine. It was an incredible experience.’
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