Ultrasound shows ties between uterine fibroid risk, family history

Ultrasound data shows that family history of uterine fibroids is a risk factor for incident fibroids in Black and African American women, a study published April 3 in JAMA Network Open found. Researchers led by Christine Langton, PhD, from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, NC, found that this trend was especially prevalent when mothers were diagnosed at a younger age. They also found that maternal history was tied to increased fibroid growth. "While we confirmed that earlier maternal diagnosis had the strongest association with fibroid incidence, we were surprised that increased fibroid growth was associated with maternal history, but not maternal age at diagnosis," corresponding author Quaker Harmon, MD, PhD, told AuntMinnie.com. The research team highlighted that uterine fibroids are an understudied condition, although previous studies have indicated that Black women experience earlier onset of fibroids than white counterparts. Prior research exploring potential ties between family history and fibroid development is limited by several factors, including reliance on hospital-based participant selection, poorly defined measures of family history, and nonsystematic fibroid assessment. Langton and colleagues studied the potential of family history as a risk factor for fibroid development by using prospective ultrasonography data to identify incident fibroids. They also measured fibroid growth and standardized methods to find...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Ultrasound Womens Imaging Source Type: news