Interventional radiology: Zapping uterine fibroids with heat from high-energy sound waves
Monday, March 15, 2010 - 11:22
in Health & Medicine
There's a new interventional radiology tool showing promise in the treatment of uterine fibroids: magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS), a minimally invasive treatment that uses high-energy ultrasound waves to generate heat at a specific point to destroy uterine fibroid tissue and relieve symptoms. A study of more than 100 patients shows that women can get lasting relief from uterine fibroid-related symptoms with MRgFUS -thus avoiding myomectomy, the surgical removal of uterine fibroids, or hysterectomy, major abdominal surgery to remove the uterus, say researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 35th Annual Scientific Meeting in Tampa, Fla.