Uterine Fibroids

Fibroid tumors are growths that grow in the muscular wall of the uterus. Fibroids are noncancerous (benign) growths. These tumors range in size, but can grow as big as the size of a cantaloupe. There have been cases of where the fibroids can grow inside the uterus to equal the size of a pregnancy growth of 20 weeks. There are three types of fibroids: Intramural, Subserosal, and Submucosal. The difference in the three are basically the location and depth of the fibroid tumor in the uterus. The most common are the intramural which develop within the uterine wall and expand making the uterus feel larger than normal. This can result in heavier menstral flow and pelvic pain. Uterine fibroids are very common and increase with age until menopause. Twenty to forty percent of women at the age of 35 and older have uterine fibroids significant in size. Growth of fibroids are determined by estrogen levels. Therefore, pregnant women that have fibroids will enlarge during pregnancy. After menopause when estrogen levels are lower, fibroids seem to decrease in size. Typical symptoms include heavy, prolonged and heavy menstrual periods, pelvic pain, back and leg pain, pain during sexual intercourse, abnormally enlarged abdomen, bladder pressure leading t constant urge to urinate, and bowel pressure causing constipation and bloating. Ultrasound , MR and CT are imaging procedures used to diagnose fibroids as well as detect size and location of the fibroids.

Sagittal T2-weighted MRI shows a large heterogeneous fundal uterine fibroid.
Media type: MRI