Possibilities of using high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy in patients with endometriosis

Moskvicheva L.I.

P.A. Herzen Moscow Oncology Research Institute, Branch, National Medical Radiology Research Center, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
Currently, endometriosis remains one of the most common gynecological diseases in reproductive-aged women, which leads to a decrease in their quality of life and performance due to the development of the phenomena of dysmenorrhea, menorrhagia, dyspareunia, severe pelvic pain syndrome, and infertility. The main treatments for this disease are medical therapy associated with a high number of complications, as well as surgical therapy characterized by surgical trauma and a significant relapse rate for the disease. In this connection, it is relevant to develop and introduce new endometriosis treatments into wide practice, which have a high efficiency, locality of exposure, and no effect on the hormonal status of patients, allowing them to restore their working capacity and lost reproductive function. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy, a non-invasive local thermal exposure technique used to treat a number of benign and malignant diseases of different organs, is currently considered as one of these options. The aim of this study is to review literature on the possibilities of using this ablation method in patients with endometriosis.
Conclusion. HIFU therapy has a significant number of clinical and technical limitations; however, its high therapeutic effectiveness, safety, and economic efficiency give it a clear advantage over traditional methods for treating this disease and contribute to the growth of researchers’ interest in the described topic and to the wider introduction of ultrasound ablation into clinical practice.

Keywords

endometriosis
adenomyosis
anterior abdominal wall endometriosis
high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy
HIFU
thermal ablation

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Received 22.07.2020

Accepted 22.09.2020

About the Authors

Liudmila I. Moskvicheva, oncologist of the Ultrasound Department, P.A. Hertsen Moscow Oncology Research Institute – branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Center, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation. E-mail: ludamed16@mail.ru. ORCID: 0000-0002-5750-8492; SPIN: 8321-3464.
125284, Russia, Moscow, 2nd Botkinsky passage, 3.

For citation: Moskvicheva L.I. Possibilities of using high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy in patients with endometriosis.
Akusherstvo i Ginekologiya/Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2021; 1: 19-26 (in Russian)
https://dx.doi.org/10.18565/aig.2021.1.19-26

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