Heavy menstrual bleeding and dysmenorrhea are improved by Magnetic Resonance Guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery (MRgFUS) of adenomyosis

BACKGROUND: To assess reduction in heavy menstrual bleeding and dysmenorrhea following MRI guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery (MRgFUS) of focal and diffuse adenomyosis up to 12 months post-treatment a retrospective cohort study was done at a tertiary care academic medical center for obstetrics, gynecology and infertility. METHODS: MRgFUS for adenomyosis uterus was done for thirty-seven patients presenting with symptoms of heavy menstrual bleeding and dysmenorrhea with MRI-suspected adenomyosis. The main outcome measure, was reduction in heavy menstrual bleeding, dysmenorrhea and Symptom Severity Scoring (SSS) over a 3, 6 and 12 month period. Secondary outcome was evidence of fertility preservation post procedure. D’Agostino & Pearson omnibus normality test, one-way Ananova, Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis was performed on the data. Statistical significances, p-value and r-value were determined. RESULTS: Out of 37 patients who were treated by MRgFUS, 26 had sufficient follow-up to be included in the analysis. SSS calculated at 3, 6 and 12 months was significantly over the baseline. Both heavy menstrual bleeding and dysmenorrhea, which were assessed separately, were found to significantly improve over time with a positive correlation between the two. No other intervention was required. CONCLUSION: MRgFUS provides immediate and sustained relief for patients with focal and diffuse adenomyosis. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40738-016-0021-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.