Clinical Trial Turns Up the Heat on Uterine Fibroids

The University of Mississippi Medical Center is one of 25 hospitals participating in the SONATA™ (SonoGraphy-Guided Transcervical Ablation) study, a clinical device trial to treat uterine fibroids. “You deliver heat energy directly to the fibroids, which can dry and shrink them,” said Dr. Jay Hudgens, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and lead investigator for the UMMC study site. Uterine fibroids are clusters of muscle cells that grow faster than their neighbors. As many as 80 percent of women will develop uterine fibroids by age 50, but most experience no symptoms. However, if the fibroids are large or numerous, they may cause severe menstrual bleeding, abdominal and back pain or pregnancy complications.