Uterine fibroid embolization is a minimally invasive treatment for uterine fibroids and should be considered a treatment option for symptomatic patients. Fibroids are benign tumors composed of smooth muscle, in 20-30% are associated with symptoms such as abnormal uterine bleeding, pelvic pain and reproductive dysfunction. UFE leads to leiomyomas infarction and volume shrinkage. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most sensitive imaging modality for determination and evaluation of fibroids, allowing precise determination of their size, location and number. Therefore MRI is used to evaluate patients...

1. Uterine fibroid embolization Over the past decade UFE has been a popular and effective treatment for symptomatic fibroids, alternative to hysterectomy and myomectomy. Embolization is a minimally invasive means of blocking the arteries that supply blood to the fibroids. UFE is an angiographic procedure that is usually performed by using a unilateral femoral artery approach. The procedure is usually done in the hospital with an overnight stay post-procedure. UFE is performed by interventional radiologist in local anesthesia. The procedure involves inserting a catheter through...

MRI was performed in 25 women at the age of 26-49 years, before UFE and 3 months after UFE. UFE was performed by using a unilateral femoral artery approach (Fig. 7, 8). Typical leiomyomas are sharply marginated masses of decreased T2-weighted signal intensity relative to the myometrium or endometrium. On fat-suppressed contrast-enhanced T1 weighted images most leiomyomas enhance less then the adjacent myometrium (Fig. 9-16). After UFE all leiomyomas showed volume reduction, mean percentage reduction of fibroids volume was calculated at 58.4%. Most of leiomyomas...

MRI is currently the most accurate noninvasive imaging technique for evaluation of fibroids before UFE and post-embolization follow-up. MRI can be used to assess the success of UFE by demonstrating the degree of shrinkage and loss of enhancement of the fibroids.

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