We’re talking fibroids

Dr. Jay D. Varma joins Eileen Whelan from Good Morning Washington to discuss the specifics of
fibroids. He answers questions like what are they? What are symptoms? Who’s at risk of having
them and more.

Full Transcript:

“Well, today we are at the Fairfax Vascular Center. Ladies, if you have fibroids, or if you know someone who has fibroids—friends, family—you want to listen up. We are with an expert, Dr. J. Varma. So first of all, let’s just start with the basics. What are fibroids? What are the symptoms? Who’s most at risk? Let’s start there.”

“Well, first of all, thank you for having me. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. Uterine fibroids are benign tumors of the uterus that generally affect women in their 40s. Again, the keyword being benign. They cause a multitude of symptoms. Most commonly, they cause heavy bleeding (menorrhagia) and heavy menstrual cycles. They also cause pelvic pressure and pelvic pain. So, women in their 40s generally are affected by fibroids and come in with complaints like, ‘Dr. Varma, I have very heavy menstrual cycles, and I have pelvic pain and cramping.’ In general, about 40% of all women will have fibroids at some point in their life by the age of 40 to 45. Of those, about half have symptoms, so most people don’t have symptoms. In fact, about half do. Fifty percent of African American women will have fibroids.”

“Wow, interesting. So, for people that have fibroids, the next question is, ‘Okay, I’ve been diagnosed with fibroids. Now we want to treat them and take care of them.’ That’s where you come in as an interventional radiologist. So, let’s talk about some of the treatments and what specifically you do here.”

“I think the most important thing for women and patients to understand is that they have options. Option number one is to wait until menopause, which on average is about 51—not a great option for somebody who’s really suffering. There are medical therapies, which generally don’t work very well; they can temporarily relieve the symptoms. There are surgical options such as myomectomy, which is generally done laparoscopically by your gynecologist, where they remove the fibroids. The other option is hysterectomy, which is also a surgical option. As an interventional radiologist, we do a procedure called uterine artery embolization, also known as uterine fibroid embolization. It’s a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure where we make a tiny nick in the skin and insert a small catheter the size of a noodle. We find the blood vessels that supply the fibroids and plug them up with little beads. This causes the fibroids to shrink and die. Whether you have one fibroid or a hundred, it does not matter—the beads will target all the fibroids, causing them all to shrink and die, which is exactly what you want.”

“And again, I heard ‘minimally invasive,’ and I think that’s what a lot of people are probably looking for. I’m going to guess that maybe means a shorter recovery time?”

“I think one of the nice things about the procedure is that it’s outpatient-based, minimally invasive, with a short recovery time. We do it in our office at the Vascular Center, and patients are sent home the same day. The recovery time is not necessarily from the invasiveness of the procedure or incision—they leave with a band-aid. The recovery has to do with post-embolization symptoms, such as some pain, cramping, maybe some nausea, low-grade fever, and feelings of malaise—generally kind of flu-like symptoms that last about seven to ten days. We make sure to take care of you with medications before, during, and after, to ensure you’re comfortable.”

“Well, I think that you guys definitely offer some great options here at Fairfax Vascular Center. Dr. J. Varma at the Fairfax Vascular Center, thank you very much.”

“Thank you.”

“More Good Morning Washington, next.”