Extravascular Dispersion of Polyvinyl Alcohol Microsphere Particles in Uterine Artery Embolization

Luz Angela Torres-de la Roche, Cristina Cezar, S Hanif, Sobia Hanif, Rajesh Devassy, Harald Krentel, J Hennefründ, Jörg Hennefründ, Rudy Leon De Wilde
BioMed research international · 2022 · vol. 2022(1) , pp. 7426210 · doi:10.1155/2022/7426210 · PMID:35211624 · PMC8863465 · W4214651078
article OA: gold CC0
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher

Abstract

Uterine artery embolization (UAE) is a common minimally invasive treatment of different uterine pathologies, such as fibroids, adenomyosis, and menorrhagia. The procedure involves the injection of embolic agents into the uterine arteries, whereby various particles can be used, such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Complication of UAE is the dispersion of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) microsphere particles in the uterine body which can lead to a granular vaginal discharge. We report the management of complications of PVA microspheres dispersed from the uterine body causing postprocedural discomfort due to the vaginal passage of microspheres or because of an induced fibroid-size enlargement. The dispersion of the PVA microspheres is one example of a minor UAE complication, which nevertheless causes significant distress to the patient and eventfully requires further surgical interventions.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

adenomyosis

MeSH descriptors

Extravasation of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Materials Microspheres Polyvinyl Alcohol Uterine Artery Embolization Uterine Diseases Adult Female Humans Middle Aged Polyvinyl Alcohol Retrospective Studies Uterine Artery Embolization Uterine Diseases

Citation neighborhood (sparse)

Too few in-corpus citations on either side for a chart; here are the lists.

Cites (1)

References (21)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-11T06:19:48.454388+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-04T00:00:01.174412+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:23:57.700195+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK