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The significance of transcervical ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation in the treatment of symptomatic fibroids: results of an expert consensus from German-speaking countries

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Abstract

Uterine fibroids are one of the most common diseases in female patients, lead mainly to bleeding disorders and lower abdominal pain, and reduce the chance of having children. In recent years we have seen a trend towards more and more pharmacotherapies and minimally invasive organ-preserving treatments. One novel and innovative procedure for an organ-preserving treatment of symptomatic uterine fibroids is the transcervical ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation (TRFA). TRFA has been used in Germany since 2013 and later found use in other German-speaking countries as well. There have now been more than 1200 TRFA treatments performed in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Experts from these three countries came together for a consensus meeting to analyze the significance of the procedure in the overall concept of the treatment of symptomatic uterine fibroids.

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The authors have not disclosed any funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Academic Hospital Cologne Weyertal University of Cologne, Weyertal 76, 50931, Cologne, Germany

    Thomas Römer, Ralf Bends & Elvin Piriyev

  2. Upper Engadin Hospital, Samedan, Switzerland

    Ladina Christoffel

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clinic of Kempten, Academic Teaching Hospital, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany

    Ricardo Felberbaum

  4. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Erlangen-Nuremberg, Maximilianspl. 2, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Thomas Hildebrandt

  5. Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Giessen, Germany

    Ivo Meinhold-Heerlein

  6. University Department of Gynecology, Bern University Hospital, Bern, Switzerland

    Michael Mueller

  7. Department for Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecological Endocrinology, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Linz, Austria

    Peter Oppelt

  8. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sindelfingen-Boeblingen Clinic, Boeblingen, Germany

    Stefan P. Renner

  9. Department of Gynecology and Reproduction Medicine, Jena University Hospital, 07747, Jena, Germany

    Ingo B. Runnebaum

  10. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Witten-Herdecke, Marien-Hospital, Witten Marienplatz, 258452, Witten, Germany

    Sven Schiermeier & Elvin Piriyev

  11. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wesel Evangelical Hospital, Wesel, Germany

    Bernhard Uhl

  12. Gynesonics, Redwood City, CA, USA

    David Toub

Authors
  1. Thomas Römer
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  2. Ralf Bends
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  3. Ladina Christoffel
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  4. Ricardo Felberbaum
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  5. Thomas Hildebrandt
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  6. Ivo Meinhold-Heerlein
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  7. Michael Mueller
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  8. Peter Oppelt
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  9. Stefan P. Renner
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  10. Ingo B. Runnebaum
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  11. Sven Schiermeier
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  12. Elvin Piriyev
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  13. Bernhard Uhl
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  14. David Toub
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Contributions

TR: manuscript writing, data management, data analysis, project development and administration; RB, LC, RF, TH, IM-H, MM, PO, EP, SR, IR, SS, BU, DT: revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Römer.

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Conflict of interest

T.R.: conflicts of interest in the areas of "Relationship to companies, patents, royalties", "Training and congresses", and "Scientific activities". R.B.: conflicts of interest in the areas of "Relationship to companies, patents, royalties", and "Training and congress". L.C.: conflicts of interest in the eight areas "Relationship to companies, patents, royalties" and "Author and author activities". R.F.: conflicts of interest in the areas of "connection to companies, patents, royalties". T.H.: conflicts of interest in the areas of “connection to companies, patents, royalties” and “training and congress”. I.M-H.: conflicts of interest in the areas of “authoring and reviewing activities”, “advanced training and congresses”, as well as “scientific activities”. M.M.: no conflict of interest. P.O.: conflicts of interest in the areas of "training and congress". E.P.: no conflict of interest. S.R.: conflict of interest in the areas of "Training and Congress". I.R.: no conflict of interest. S.S.: conflict of interest in the areas of "Training and Congress" and "Scientific Activities". B.U.: conflict of interest in the areas of "authoring and reviewing activities". D.T.: conflicts of interest in the areas of "connection to companies, patents, royalties".

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Römer, T., Bends, R., Christoffel, L. et al. The significance of transcervical ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation in the treatment of symptomatic fibroids: results of an expert consensus from German-speaking countries. Arch Gynecol Obstet 306, 1–6 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-022-06516-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-022-06516-1

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