Prophylaxis of Ischemic Damage to the Ovaries, Taking Into Account Peculiarities of Blood Supply to the Uterus During Endovascular Treatment of Le Yo Fibroids

Abstract

SUMMARY Uterine arteries embolization (UAE) is one of the modern trends in the treatment of uterine bleeding caused by uterine leiomyomas (UL). However, unfavourable results of this method of treatment are observed in 10–15% of cases. This is primarily concerned with the emerging ischemia of ovarian tissue after embolization.Material and methods Complex examination and treatment was performed in 48 patients admitted with UL complicated by the development of uterine bleeding. Patients with UL were divided into two groups. In the Group I of patients (n=29) standard embolization was performed, while the patients of the Group II (n=19) with diagnosed interarterial utero-ovarian anastomosis underwent separating technique of UA occlusion using different types of emboli.Results and discussion The features of the uterine blood supply in patients with UL were analyzed from the perspective of the effecacy and safety of endovascular intervention. A methodology of staged EUA was developed, which involved the staged aortography of the infrarenal aorta (for visualization of the ovarian arteries); pelvic arteriography (for evaluating the vascular anatomy of the pelvis and identifying utero-ovarian intearterial anastomoses); selective arteriography followed by UAE first with cylindrical emboli, and then with standard emboli in the form of microspheres. The application of the developed technique did not show dysfunction of the ovaries in both the short and long-term follow-up period up to 18 months in the Group II.Conclusion The separating UA occlusion is a safe and effective way of preventing ischemic damage in the presence of signoficant utero-ovarian inter-arterial nastomoses.

Keywords

• uterine leiomyoma
• uterine bleeding
• uterine artery embolization
• utero-ovarian anastomoses
• evaluation of treatment results