title: Endometrium evaluation with high-field (3-Tesla) magnetic resonance imaging in patients submitted to uterine leiomyoma embolization.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the endometrial alterations related to embolization of uterine arteries for the treatment of symptomatic uterine leiomyomatosis (pelvic pain and/or uterine bleeding) by means of high-field (3-Tesla) magnetic resonance.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a longitudinal and prospective study that included 94 patients with a clinical and imaging diagnosis of symptomatic uterine leiomyomatosis, all of them treated by embolization of the uterine arteries. The patients were submitted to evaluations by high-field magnetic resonance of the pelvis before and 6 months after the procedure. Specific evaluations were made of the endometrium on the T2-weighted sequences, and on the T1-weighted sequences before and after the intravenous dynamic infusion of the paramagnetic contrast. In face of these measures, statistical analyses were performed using Student's t test for comparison of the results obtained before and after the procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  An average increase of 20.9% was noted in the endometrial signal on T2-weighted images obtained after the uterine artery embolization procedure when compared to the pre-procedure evaluation (p=0.0004). In the images obtained with the intravenous infusion of paramagnetic contrast, an average increase of 18.7% was noted in the post-embolization intensity of the endometrial signal, compared to the pre-embolization measure (p<0.035).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After embolization of the uterine arteries, there was a significant increase of the endometrial signal on the T2-weighted images and on the post-contrast images, inferring possible edema and increased endometrial flow. Future studies are needed to assess the clinical impact of these findings.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Monica Amadio Piazza
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nasser
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zlotnik
authors.forename: Marcos de Lorenzo
authors.initials: Mde L
authors.lastname: Messina
authors.forename: Ronaldo Hueb
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Baroni
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003287:Contrast Media; D004717:Endometrium / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007889:Leiomyoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055357:Uterine Artery Embolization / Q000379:methods*; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media