Preoperative assessment of submucous fibroids by three-dimensional saline contrast sonohysterography

Submucous fibroids are a common cause of menstrual disturbance that can be treated by hysteroscopic resection. Preoperative patient selection is critical for the success of surgery and it is usually based on hysteroscopic assessment of fibroid protrusion into the uterine cavity. Three-dimensional saline contrast sonohysterography (3D-SCSH) provides additional information about the size and location of submucous fibroids, but it has not yet been evaluated for its usefulness in preoperative assessment. The aim of this study was to examine the potential value of various demographic and ultrasound variables for the prediction of successful submucous fibroid resection.

This was a prospective study of symptomatic women diagnosed with submucous fibroids who underwent 3D-SCSH prior to hysteroscopic resection. The women's age and parity and fibroid position, diameter, protrusion ratio, size of the intramural component and distance from the internal cervical os were all recorded. The outcome measure was success of a single hysteroscopic resection in achieving a complete excision of the fibroid. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis using a training set and a testing set were performed to investigate the prediction of successful fibroid resection.

A total of 61 women with 67 fibroids were included in the study. There was a statistically significant difference between women who had complete and those who had incomplete resection in the mean protrusion ratio (67.8 (SD 14.5)% vs. 47.0 (SD 17.8)%; P = 0.001), the median maximum fibroid diameter (24.0 (interquartile range (IQR), 19.0-30.5) mm vs. 45.0 (IQR, 28.8-51.3) mm; P = 0.001) and the median size of the intramural component of the fibroid (8.0 (IQR, 4.0-11.5) mm vs. 16.5 (IQR, 12.5-29.3) mm; P = 0.001). Stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis retained size of intramural component (odds ratio (OR) 0.511), parity (OR 0.002) and fibroid diameter (OR 0.843) as significant independent predictors of a complete fibroid resection. The model had an area under the receiver-operating characteristics curve of 0.975 (SE 0.039) for the training set (n = 39) and 0.864 (SE 0.090) for the testing set (n = 28).

Submucous fibroid protrusion ratio, fibroid diameter and size of the fibroid's intramural component are significantly associated with the likelihood of successful fibroid resection. A logistic regression model can calculate individual probability of complete resection and may improve preoperative counseling of patients.