Hysterectomy Could Be History for Women with Fibroids at Allina's Mercy & Unity Hospitals

Nancy Henninger's doctor gave her three options, and she did not like any of them. So, like more and more people, she
searched the Internet.


That is how the 48-year-old Bemidji, Minn. resident ended up in Fridley, more than 200 miles south, at Allina's Unity
Hospital. She wanted to have a procedure called uterine fibroid embolization, or UFE, a minimally invasive alternative to
hysterectomy.


"It's made a world of difference for me," Henninger said.


Before the procedure, Henninger's menstrual periods had been excessive. After one period lasted an entire month, and she
started taking iron to fight anemia, she saw her doctor.


An ultrasound exam revealed fibroids. After mulling her options, hysterectomy looked like the inevitable choice. Henninger
was upset.


"I did not want to go through surgery, and I could not afford to be in the hospital for five days and off work for four to
six weeks," she said. Henninger, who works as a waitress, said it would put her family "too far behind" financially.


After two weeks of Internet research, Henninger called Josh Plorde, M.D., an interventional radiologist of Suburban Imaging
-- Coon Rapids who performs UFE at Unity.


After talking with Dr. Plorde and his nurse by phone, Henninger scheduled a consultation in Coon Rapids. An MRI confirmed
that she was a good UFE candidate.


Her procedure was performed in July 2004. She stayed one night at Unity and was back at work in three days. "I have had no
problems at all," she said recently. "I'm even been trying to talk my friend into having it."


"The treatment for uterine fibroids has traditionally been limited, leading women to choose hysterectomy," said Dr. Plorde.
"UFE, a minimally invasive procedure, offers a remarkable treatment option with less recovery time. Most women report a
return to normal activities in approximately one week."


Gynecologist Bernadette Hightower-Hughes of Fridley is a UFE advocate.


"For the properly chosen patient, it is an excellent alternative to surgery and long recovery."


"Most patients are not aware of UFE, but when I present all of the choices to them, most want to be evaluated for UFE,"
Hightower-Hughes said.


Fibroids are usually benign tumors that affect about 30 percent of women. Often, they go unnoticed, but sometimes they cause
pain and excessive bleeding. Fibroids are the most common cause for hysterectomies -- 200,000 a year in the U.S.


The UFE procedure begins with the interventional radiologist putting a small nick in the upper thigh to access the femoral
artery. Using specialized X-ray equipment, a small tube is threaded into the femoral artery, then to the uterine artery, near
the location of the fibroid.


Tiny particles -- each about the size of a grain of salt -- are injected through the catheter and into the blood flow leading
to the fibroid. The particles block the vessels around the fibroid, depriving it of the blood flow it needs to grow. The
fibroid tissue stops growing and shrinks.


Not all patients qualify for UFE. The location of the fibroids or abnormal vascular anatomy may make treatment via the
arteries impossible.


Dr. Plorde and fellow interventional radiologists Bradley Close, MD and Kevin Henseler, MD, perform UFE at Mercy & Unity. For
further information, women can call the interventional nurse clinician at Suburban Imaging - Coon Rapids by calling
763-792-1980.


UFE is also performed at Allina's Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and United Hospital in St. Paul, Minn.


Mercy & Unity Hospitals, located in Coon Rapids and Fridley, are non- profit hospitals that serve the northern
Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The hospitals, which are part of Allina Hospitals & Clinics, cared for 250,000
patients in 2004.