Effects of uterine artery embolization on life quality in premenopausal women

Purpose: To evaluate the quality of life after uterine artery embolization (UAE) treatment for uterine fibroids (UF) of premenopausal women.

Patients and methods: In this retrospective study enrolled 96 participants, aged 32 – 49 years, who underwent UAE for symptomatic UF. UAE consisted of unilateral femoral artery puncture, bilateral selective catheterization of uterine arteries using 4-F Cobra 1 or Simmons 1 catheters, super selective catheterizations with microcatheters 2,7-F (bypassing vaginal and cervical arteries or even ovarians) and use of precise calibrated polyzene coated microspheres 700 µm in diameter as embolic material. Patients answered a women's health questionnaire regarding menopausal symptoms and was evaluated before and after UAE at the 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th and 12^th month, aside with imaging (MRI) evaluation.

Results: Bilateral UAE was successfully performed in all cases. All participants responded the Questionaire on the 1^st, 3^rd, 6^th, 9^th, 12^th post interventional month. Most common symptoms like headache, vertigo and bleeding in either mild or moderate form were reduced at the 2^nd and disappeared completely at the 3^rd visit after 3 and 6 months respectively. All the answers reported improvement of quality of life 3,6 months post interventional. Complete elimination of clinical symptoms like irregular vaginal bleeding and abdominal pain occurred after 6 months.

Conclusion: According to our results, 6 months after UAE the patients have improvement of general quality of life depending on sastifactory elimination of clinical problems.