KARACHI, May 1: About 20 to 30 per cent of women of child- bearing age suffer from fibroids tumour of uterus.

In most cases multiple tumours, often ranging between 5 to 30, are found in a patient but up to 200 may be found in one uterus which continue to grow till the patients attain menopause.

A case of large fibroid came to limelight recently when the doctors at Sobraj Maternity Hospital successfully operated upon a middle-aged woman hailing from Turbat, removing more than a decade old fibroid tumour weighing about 10 kg from her abdomen.

However, their growth to immense size filling the whole abdomen is rare with the development of modern surgery.

Though this was an unusual case which aggravated over the years due to poor medical facilities in remote parts of the country, but fibroids tumours can develop in women and even in adolescent girls without any discrepancy.

Fibroid tumours are abnormal collections of tissue - mainly uterine (womb) muscle - arising from the wall of the womb. They are usually multiple and are not malignant.

Fibroids are usually non-cancerous and despite being considered tumours,they are not associated with cancer, they virtually never develop into cancer, and do not increase a woman’s risk for uterine cancer.

Some women who have uterine fibroids may experience symptoms such as excessive or painful bleeding during menstruation, bleeding between periods, a feeling of fullness in the lower abdomen, frequent urination resulting from a fibroid that compresses the bladder and low-back pain.

Although reproductive symptoms such as infertility, recurrent spontaneous abortion, and early onset of labour during pregnancy have been attributed to fibroids to any of these symptoms.

It is the commonest form of gynaecological tumour (those affecting the reproductive organs of the female). They tend to occur more frequently with advancing age, while pregnancies in early womanhood appear to protect against the development.

In rare cases a fibroid can compress and block the fallopian tube, preventing fertilization and migration of the ovum (egg); after surgical removal of the fibroid, fertility is generally restored. Some women never exhibit any symptoms or have any problems associated with fibroids, in which case no treatment is necessary.

The doctors usually recommend operations after diagnosis and ultrasound if patients are suffering from any of such side -effects.

According to Dr Shabeen Naz of Sobraj Maternity Hospital, in some occasions fibroids begin to break down after menopause when there is no blood supply to them.

This is termed ‘degeneration’. The treatment, again, is usually conservative and involves bed-rest and simple painkillers. No operation is usually necessary.

“The factors that initiate fibroid growth are not known. The vast majority of fibroids occur in women of reproductive age,” Dr Shabeen added.

According to international studies, about 1 in 200 pregnancies are affected by fibroids. Most are small and cause no trouble. But roughly 1 in 800 can cause complications. Major problems, though unlikely, do occur. The severity depends on the number, the size and the position in the womb of the fibroids. They are seldom seen in young women who have not begun menstruation.—PPI