A Prospective Pilot Study of the Safety and Effectiveness of Uterine Artery Embolization for the Treatment of Endometriosis: The UAE-E Study

Jim Koukounaras, Warren Clements, W. Catarina Ang, Adil Zia, Matthew Lukies, Heather K. Moriarty, Helen Kavnoudias
In: Journal of Clinical Interventional Radiology ISVIR · 2023 · vol. 07(03) , pp. 179–182 · doi:10.1055/s-0043-1768942 · W4376140122
article OA: diamond CC0
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This prospective pilot study evaluated the safety and effectiveness of uterine artery embolization (UAE) in six premenopausal women over 40 with endometriosis-related symptoms.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-10 ⓘ

This prospective single-arm pilot study protocol (UAE-E; registered and approved IRB-approved) will enroll six female, premenopausal patients over 40 with laparoscopically confirmed pelvic endometriosis within 5 years and endometriosis-related symptoms impacting quality of life. Using uterine artery embolization via a transfemoral approach under conscious sedation, the investigators will measure safety as a composite of procedural and postprocedural complications at multiple timepoints and will also assess technical success, clinical success, and durability, with baseline and follow-up symptom/quality-of-life outcomes using BSGE pelvic pain and SF-36 questionnaires. The major limitation explicitly implied by the design is the small sample size and lack of a randomized comparator, intended primarily to generate feasibility/safety data to guide a future controlled trial. Relevance to endometriosis: the paper is a pilot study specifically evaluating uterine artery embolization for endometriosis-related symptoms.

Read from the paper's body, not the abstract. Not a substitute for reading the paper. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Abstract Purpose Uterine artery embolization (UAE) evidence is increasing in the setting of adenomyosis, which shares pathological similarities to endometriosis. Endometriosis is characterized by the presence of endometrium-like tissue outside of the uterus, and the retrograde menstruation hypothesis may account for disease development. In women where fertility is no longer desired, hysterectomy can be offered to improve pain-related symptoms. The authors hypothesize that this cohort of patients may similarly respond to UAE. The aim of this pilot study is to assess the safety and effectiveness of UAE in the management of endometriosis-related symptoms. Methods Six-patient prospective single-arm pilot study in female, premenopausal patients over 40 years with symptoms of endometriosis. Institutional review board approval was obtained. Inclusion criteria include completed family, premenopausal, pelvic endometriosis as confirmed by laparoscopy within the last 5 years, and symptoms of endometriosis impacting quality of life as evidenced by the British Society of Gynaecological Endoscopy pelvic pain and Short Form-36 questionnaires. Results The primary endpoint will be safety, as assessed by the composite number of procedural and postprocedural complications during procedure, predischarge, and at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. Secondary endpoints will include technical success, clinical success, and durability. Discussion This study will be a novel application of UAE in the setting of endometriosis and has the potential to improve patient quality of life. This pilot study will assess safety and allow the investigators to design a prospective randomized controlled study.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisadenomyosis

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (13)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK