대한영상의학회지 (Jan 2017)

Uterine Artery Embolization: The Interventional Treatment of Female Genital Diseases

  • Woong Hee Lee,
  • Seung Boo Yang,
  • Dong Erk Goo,
  • Yong Jae Kim,
  • Jae Myeong Lee,
  • Chae Hoon Kang,
  • Joon Young Ohm,
  • Young Jun Kim

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3348/jksr.2017.76.1.1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 76, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

Read online

The uterus is the major female sex organ and is essential for pregnancy. The organ is located in the pelvic cavity. It is usually fist-sized with its volume changing from 75 to 200 cc depending on the menstrual cycle. There are various diseases associated with the uterus, including malignancy, uterine myoma, postpartum hemorrhage, and vascular malformation. The conventional surgical treatment for these diseases is hysterectomy. However, hysterectomy has some risk, and there may be complications associated with the surgery and anesthesia. In addition, hysterectomy results in loss of fertility and loss of female characteristics, both of which may lead to emotional problems. After uterine artery embolization (UAE) was performed for post-partum bleeding in 1979 and for uterine myoma in 1995, interventional treatment of UAE replaced the existing surgical treatment of hysterectomy. UAE is performed widely as a minimally invasive treatment modality that can preserve the uterus, make pregnancy and childbirth possible and resolve emotional problems. The interventional treatment has become increasingly popular to treat various female genital diseases

Keywords