A gynaecologist at Medifem Specialist Hospital and Fertility Centre, Dr Ernest Saka, has cautioned that while uterine fibroids themselves may not be fatal, the complications they cause can lead to life-threatening conditions such as anaemia, heart failure, and kidney damage.
Speaking to GhanaWeb TV’s Stella Dziedzorm Sogli on Health Focus, he explained that uterine fibroids, depending on their size and location, can exert pressure on other organs.
“If they grow on the sides, they can obstruct the tubes. You get hydronephrosis and back pressure into the kidneys, they can destroy your kidneys,” he said.
“The fibroid won’t kill you. It’s the side effects that will. If you’re losing more blood than your body can produce, over time your blood levels will keep dropping. It becomes anaemia. Anaemia can lead to all kinds of failures, heart failure, strokes, kidney failure, liver failure, all sorts of organ failures,” he added.
Dr Saka further explained that fibroids are categorised based on how they grow.
“The main thing is the growth of the womb muscle. As it grows, it can either stay in the muscle, we call that intramural or grow into the cavity and become submucous. It can also grow outward, staying on the surface, which we call subserous,” he noted.
According to him, sub-serous fibroids usually cause fewer problems, “unless they become pedunculated, develop a stalk, and twist on themselves.”
He also noted that the size of fibroids can sometimes make them detectable by touch.
“Most of the time, it’s quite large. You’re not supposed to be able to feel your womb. So, any time you can feel your womb, it means it’s bigger than the size of a three-month pregnancy,” he explained.
Ghanaweb
