What is a uterine myoma?
A myoma is the proliferation and enlargement of the muscle fibers of the uterus. It is manifested by the appearance of nodules in different locations of the uterus and this is what is commonly called myoma, or uterine leiomyoma. It is a benign process except in exceptional circumstances and affects a huge percentage of women from adolescence to the time of menopause.
Why do some women develop it, and what does it depend on?
I cannot answer you exactly because we do not know what it depends on if one woman develops a myoma and other women do not. What we do know is that myomas are benign tumors, as I said before, which are a function of the hormonal level of women. They manifest themselves from the time of puberty until the time of menopause, and at the time of menopause the vast majority of cases these fibroids decrease in size, and may even disappear.
What problems and symptoms do they cause?
The symptomatology of fibroids is very varied. It depends fundamentally on three factors: the number of fibroids, the size of these fibroids and their location within the uterus. This last aspect is fundamental. Generally the most frequent symptoms in women with myomatous uteri are menstrual alterations, bleeding outside the cycle, very heavy menstrual bleeding and, on the other hand, symptoms of abdominal pain in the lower abdomen and also symptoms due to compression of the neighboring organs, fundamentally the bladder. This is the most frequent symptomatology of myomatous uterus.
What does their treatment consist of?
In the treatment of uterine fibroids, the only really effective treatment is surgery. But this does not mean that every uterine myoma, every patient who has a uterine myoma has to undergo surgery. That is going to depend fundamentally on two factors. The first is the symptomatology that the patient presents. The second factor is whether the myoma has a tendency to grow over time or to stabilize. Myomas that produce little symptomatology and that this symptomatology can be counteracted with adequate medical treatment do not have to undergo surgery. For some years now, another treatment option for symptomatic fibroids is interventional radiology, which is called embolization of myomatous uteri. It is a technique that is increasingly used by interventional radiologists with acceptable results.