Uterine Fibroids Video Perspectives

In this video, Elizabeth A. Stewart, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and consultant in the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Mayo Clinic, discusses:

• The biggest barriers to uterine fibroid diagnosis, such as the patients themselves not realizing they should ask their doctor about symptoms such as heavy or long periods;
• Recent innovations in uterine fibroid treatment, including efforts to make surgical options less invasive, uterine artery embolization, and pharmacological developments such as oral GnRH antagonists;
• How, rather than “jumping right to hysterectomy,” alterative surgical and pharmacological options have become standard in uterine fibroid care;
• Uterine fibroids as a “disease of health disparities;”
• How the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused women to delay care and develop more severe uterine fibroid cases, the increased use of telehealth may lead to expanded access to uterine fibroid care in the long-term; and
• The need for future research to focus on the prevention of uterine fibroids.