Clinical outcomes of focused ultrasound surgery for the treatment of uterine fibroids

Objective: To assess outcomes at 6 and 12 months after magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound surgery (MRgFUS) for symptomatic uterine leiomyomas. Design: Multicenter clinical trial. Setting: Academic medical centers. Patient(s): Premenopausal women with symptomatic uterine leiomyomas and no plans for future pregnancy (n = 109 at 6 months and n = 82 at 12 months). Intervention(s): A single treatment session of MRgFUS for uterine fibroids. Main Outcome Measure(s): Reduction in fibroid symptoms as measured by the symptom severity score (SSS) of the Uterine Fibroid Quality-of-Life Instrument (UFS-QOL), the only validated measure of leiomyoma symptomatology. A 10-point reduction in the SSS was selected as the targeted improvement. Result(s): Seventy-one percent of women undergoing MRgFUS reached the targeted symptom reduction at 6 months, and 51% reached this at 12 months. The magnitude of improvement in SSS was greater than predicted, with subjects having a mean decrease of 39% and 36% at 6 and 12 months, respectively. This paralleled the improvement seen using the short form-36 instrument. A modest volume reduction similar in magnitude to the treated volume was seen. The incidence of adverse events was low. Conclusion(s): MRgFUS treatment results in short-term symptom reduction for women with symptomatic uterine leiomyomas with an excellent safety profile.