Virtually all fibroids respond to Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE). The question is will there be enough shrinkage to relieve symptoms? Generally speaking, the smaller the fibroid the better the response. However, even in a uterine size up to a 22-24 weeks of gestation or less, a 40-60% shrinkage is possible. In much larger fibroids which are greater than this size, the shrinkage may be a bit less when compared to a smaller sized fibroid being that the resulting shrinkage is relative to the starting size of the fibroid.
Also, it appears that after women with reasonably large fibroids have under gone UAE, there is still a considerable decrease in pain and pressure symptoms, as well as in bleeding abnormalities. However, while patients with near term size uteri have been treated with UFE, in practice, 22-24 weeks gestational size seems to be the upper limit where a good response can be anticipated. This size limit is far from absolute and each case needs to be evaluated individually.
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