Ultrasound-Guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation for Symptomatic Uterine Fibroids: Preliminary Clinical Experience.

OBJECTIVE:  To evaluate the middle-term efficacy and complications of ultrasound-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (USgHIFU) for the treatment of symptomatic uterine fibroids in an NHS population. METHODS:  A prospective observational single-center study at a single university hospital in Oxford, UK. Patients with symptomatic uterine fibroids who declined standard surgical/radiological intervention and were referred to the HIFU unit were considered for USgHIFU treatment. Clinical evaluation, adverse event monitoring, uterine fibroid symptoms and health-related quality of life questionnaire (UFS-QOL) and contrast-enhanced pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed before and at regular intervals after treatment to assess patient outcome. RESULTS:  12 of 22 referred patients underwent one session of USgHIFU ablation of 14 fibroids overall and received a two-year follow-up. No serious adverse events were reported, but a second-degree skin burn was observed in one patient who had a surgical scar from a previous caesarean section. Mean symptom severity scores (SSS-QOL) improved significantly from 56.5 ± 29.1 (SD) at baseline to 33.4 ± 23.3 (p