What are fibroids?
Fibroids are abnormal growths of the muscle wall of the womb or uterus. Uterine fibroids are the most common tumours of the female genital tract. You might hear them referred to as "fibroids" or by several other names, including leiomyoma, leiomyomata, myoma and fibromyoma. Fibroids are non-cancerous (benign) growths. While fibroids do not always cause symptoms, their size and location can lead to problems for some women including painful or heavy periods and pressure symptoms. Fibroids may occur in a number of locations. They most commonly lie in the wall of the uterus (intramural fibroids) but may protrude either outside the uterus or into the cavity of the uterus.
What are the symptoms?
While fibroids do not always cause symptoms, their size and location can lead to problems for some women including painful or heavy periods and pressure symptoms. Fibroids may occur in a number of locations. They most commonly lie in the wall of the uterus (intramural fibroids) but may protrude either outside the uterus or into the cavity of the uterus.
Investigations
The most common investigation following clinical examination by your general practitioner or gynaecologist is usually an ultrasound scan. It is quite likely that you will have already had an ultrasound scan before your referral to the Birmingham Fibroid Clinic. When planning treatment and particularly for uterine artery embolisation and MRI guided focused ultrasound ablation it is usually necessary to obtain an MRI scan. This gives much more information than an ultrasound scan about the exact location of the fibroids relative to the uterine cavity or the wall of the uterus, detects pedunculated fibroids that may be difficult to measure on ultrasound and can give useful information about the vascularity or the blood supply of the uterus. It is not unusual for MRI to locate multiple smaller fibroids in addition to larger ones already been diagnosed on ultrasound.