Nov. 27, 2000 (Chicago) -- Hysterectomy is one of the most commonly performed surgeries, and many women who are rolled into operating rooms every year are undergoing the procedure to eliminate the painful cramping and excessive bleeding caused by noncancerous tumors called fibroids. Now, however, a team of London researchers says that there may be a high-tech way to avoid surgery by "melting away" the growths that affect 20% to 40% of women 35 years of age or older.

Wladyslaw M. Gedroyc, a consulting radiologist at St. Mary's Hospital in London, says that his team of radiologists has successfully treated more than 50 women. He presented the findings here Monday at a radiology meeting.

He says four needles with lasers attached are inserted into "the front of the tummy" and MRI technology guides the needles to the target: fibroids. Some of these growths can be as big as cantaloupes and can cause a woman to look pregnant, Gedroyc says. Once the needles penetrate the target he turns up the heat and melts away the fibroid, he tells WebMD.

After three months, "the fibroids had shrunk by an average of 35%, but some were only half as large as they were before treatment," says Gedroyc. "This doesn't eliminate the fibroids, but women can be symptom free when the bulk is reduced," he says. The researchers followed the women for a year and a half.

Penny A. Law, a gynecologist at St. Mary's Hospital and study co-author says this is a major advance because previously, women had to undergo surgery with no way of preserving fertility. "We think that we can preserve fertility ... by preserving the [inner lining of the uterus] with this technique," say Law. "Thus far, we have performed the procedure on three women who hope to become pregnant."

The procedure takes two to three hours and the woman can generally "go home in about four hours and return to work within days. Many women require no pain medication after the procedure," Gedroyc says.

Although he says many women could benefit from the high-tech approach, it can't be used in all cases, such as when the fibroid is twisted around the bladder or bowel.

Hedvig Hricak, MD, PhD, chair of radiology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute in New York, says most women with fibroids are unlikely to be worried about fertility. "Most of these women are in their 40s, so fertility is not an issue," she says. However, "the days that a surgeon just did a hysterectomy for fibroids is over. Laser [surgery] improves outcomes, is less invasive, and the early results are excellent." Hricak was not involved in the study.

(From Excite)