MEDICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT OF UTERINE FIBROIDS

Uterine fibroids, or leiomyomata uteri, are the most common tumors (be nign or malignant) of the upper female genital tract. Medical and surg ical technology, in particular minimally invasive surgical approaches, and combinations of these interventions decrease the amount of money spent for a diagnosis of symptomatic fibroids. Further research needs to be conducted to ascertain whether cyclical medical approaches will control a large subset of women to prevent them from the necessity of having surgery; at the very least, combinations of medical and minimal ly invasive surgical approaches need to be explored.