"This (uterine fibroid embolization) is becoming more widely used. It's ideal for women who are mostly healthy except for the fibroid."

--Shiliang Sun, M.D.

A minimally invasive procedure gives women relief from symptoms of uterine fibroids.

Like many working parents, Debbie Steinbron rarely had a moment to stop and take a deep breath. So when her yearly doctor's exam rolled around a couple of years ago, the day came and went without notice.

Over the next year, Steinbron's intuition led her to believe something might be amiss. "I just felt that something was not right," said Steinbron. Her typically regular menstrual cycle had become increasingly longer, heavier, and much more painful.

When her exam came around the next year, Steinbron made it a priority. After performing an ultrasound, Steinbron's gynecologist discovered the cause of her irregularity--a non-cancerous tumor, also known as a uterine fibroid, along Steinbron's uterus.

Affecting up to 25 percent of women of childbearing age, uterine fibroids may cause a variety of symptoms, including abnormal periods, pelvic pain, prolonged lower back pain, and urinary problems.

Since Steinbron's growth was benign, immediate removal was unnecessary. Hormone therapy was an option, but side-effects were likely, and she would need to take the medications the rest of her life. As her symptoms showed no signs of improvement, a hysterectomy became the most likely answer.

Although not pleased with the likelihood of having a hysterectomy, Steinbron grew to accept it. After all, her mother had had one and so had a close friend. As a mother of five and grandmother of one, Steinbron's childbearing days were behind her. But a friend and a doctor encouraged Steinbron to look around for other possible options.

A year ago, Steinbron's search led her to uterine fibroid embolization, a procedure performed by interventional radiologists at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Steinbron contacted UI Health Access where referral specialists scheduled an appointment for her to meet with Shiliang Sun, M.D., an interventional radiologist.

At her first clinical visit, Sun scheduled an MRI for Steinbron. From these images, Sun determined that the location and increasing size of Steinbron's fibroid, along with her otherwise healthy condition, made her an ideal candidate for uterine fibroid embolization.

Since the mid-1990s, this minimally invasive procedure has been used to block the blood flow to the uterine fibroid, causing it to shrink and eventually die. Using a catheter, radiologists directly isolate the fibroid and inject tiny plastic particles the size of grains of sand into the vessels, stopping blood flow to the fibroid.

"This shrinks the fibroid without damaging the uterus," said Jafar Golzarian, M.D., an interventional radiologist who also performs the procedure.

Last December, after evaluating her options, Steinbron decided to undergo the procedure. Four days after the procedure, she was back to work and had experienced only minimal pain and cramping.

Her symptoms slowly started to decrease as the fibroid shrank. At her three-month and six-month follow-up appointments, the fibroid was noticeably smaller on the MRI. A year after the procedure, Steinbron's menstrual cycle is back to normal. "Everything is like it used to be," she said.

Gynecologists and interventional radiologists are continuously collaborating in the effort to treat women with uterine fibroids. "This is becoming more widely used," said Sun.

For more information about uterine fibroid embolization, call UI Health Access and ask for the Department of Radiology.