Uterine Artery Embolization for Treatment of
Leiomyomata
Long-Term Outcomes From the FIBROID Registry
Scott C. Goodwin, MD, James B. Spies, MD, Robert Worthington-Kirsch, MD, Eric Peterson, MD, MPH,
Gaylene Pron, PhD, Shuang Li, MS, and Evan R. Myers, MD, MPH, for the Fibroid Registry for
Outcomes Data (FIBROID) Registry Steering Committee and Core Site Investigators*
OBJECTIVE: To assess long-term clinical outcomes of
uterine artery embolization across a wide variety of
practice settings in a large patient cohort.
METHODS: The Fibroid Registry for Outcomes Data
(FIBROID) for Uterine Embolization was a 3-year, single-
arm, prospective, multi-center longitudinal study of the
short- and long-term outcomes of uterine artery embo-
lization for leiomyomata. Two thousand one hundred
twelve patients with symptomatic leiomyomata were
eligible for long-term follow-up at 27 sites representing a
geographically diverse set of practices, including aca-
demic centers, community hospitals, and closed-panel
health maintenance organizations. At 36 months after
treatment, 1,916 patients remained in the study, and of
these, 1,278 patients completed the survey. The primary
measures of outcome were the symptom and health-
related quality-of-life scores from the Uterine Fibroid
Symptom and Quality of Life questionnaire.
RESULTS: Mean symptom scores improved 41.41 points
(P<.001), and the quality of life scores improved 41.47
points (P<.001), both moving into the normal range for
this questionnaire. The improvements were independent
of practice setting. During the 3 years of the study,
Kaplan-Meier estimates of hysterectomy, myomectomy,
or repeat uterine artery embolization were 9.79%, 2.82%,
and 1.83% of the patients, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Uterine artery embolization results in a
durable improvement in quality of life. These results are
achievable when the procedure is performed in any
experienced community or academic interventional ra-
diology practice.
(Obstet Gynecol 2008;111:22–33)
LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III
U
terine leiomyomata are a major public health
care problem, occurring in at least half of Amer-
ican reproductive-age women.
1
Leiomyomata may
cause pain, abnormal bleeding, pressure, and other
symptoms related to uterine enlargement and fertility
problems. Symptomatic leiomyomata lead to 30 –
40% of all hysterectomies in the United States, and to
150,000 –200,000 hysterectomies annually.
2
More
than 25% of women in the United States will have a
hysterectomy by the time they are 60 years old. It is
the second most frequently performed surgical proce-
dure after cesarean delivery for women of reproduc-
tive age in the United States.
3
Uterine artery embolization, as a less invasive
alternative to hysterectomy for the treatment of symp-
tomatic leiomyomata, was first reported in 1995.
4
The
procedure is also known as uterine fibroid emboliza-
tion. Since then, the procedure has grown in popular-
ity, and currently approximately 25,000 uterine artery
* For a list of the Fibroid Registry for Outcomes Data (FIBROID) Registry
Steering Committee and Core Site Investigators, see the appendix online at
www.greenjournal.org/cgi/content/full/111/1/22/DC1.
From the Department of Radiological Sciences, School of Medicine at the
University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California; Department of Radiology,
Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC; Image Guided
Surgery Associates, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Department of Medicine, Duke
University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; Department of Public
Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Duke Clinical
Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina; and Department of Obstetrics and
Gynecology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
Funded by the Society for Interventional Radiology Foundation through unre-
stricted grants from Biosphere Medical, Inc. (Rockland, MA) and Boston
Scientific Corporation (Natick, MA).
Corresponding author: Scott C. Goodwin, MD, UC Irvine Medical Center, 101
The City Drive South, Route 140, Orange, California 92868; e-mail:
s.goodwin@uci.edu.
Financial Disclosure
Dr. Goodwin is a former consultant with Boston Scientific, Inc. (Rockland, MA)
and Biosphere Medical (Natick, MA). Dr. Worthington-Kirsch received research
support and served as a consultant to Biosphere Medical and Boston Scientific.
The other authors have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
© 2007 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Published
by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
ISSN: 0029-7844/07
22 VOL. 111, NO. 1, JANUARY 2008 OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY