The timing of natural menopause after uterine fibroid embolization: A prospective cohort study

Objective: To determine whether uterine fibroid embolization before the age of 45 years advances the timing of natural menopause. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: University tertiary-care center. Participant(s): Forty-three regularly cycling women aged 35-44 years who underwent embolization and 43 age-matched control subjects. Intervention(s): Annual assessments of menopausal status using prospectively recorded menstrual diaries and hormonal (serum FSH and E2) and ultrasound measures (ovarian volume and antral follicle count). Women were followed for 7 years or until they reached menopause. Main Outcome Measure(s): Age at menopause as computed by subtracting the date of birth from the exact date of the last menstrual period. Result(s): Over the study period, 9 patients (25%) and 12 control subjects (33%) became menopausal, 19 patients (53%) and 18 control subjects (50%) entered the menopausal transition (irregular cycles), and 8 patients (22%) and 6 control subjects (17%) continued to menstruate regularly. Mean menopausal age in the embolization group (48.94 ± 2.48 years) was not significantly different from that in the control group (49.52 ± 1.25 years). There was no significant difference of menopause occurrence between the groups. Longitudinal changes in hormonal and ultrasound measures were similar for the two groups. Conclusion(s): This long-term follow-up study found no evidence for fibroid embolization advancing the timing of menopause in women before the age of 45 years. © 2011 American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Published by Elsevier Inc.