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Uterine fibroids linked to greater risk of stillbirth, future testing recom

Updated: 2010-02-08 18:04:19 CST Category: Female Specific Tests

by Alex Schoenfeld

A recent study presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in Chicago has found that women with uterine fibroids are almost twice as likely to have a stillborn child.

Uterine fibroids, which are non-cancerous tumors in the walls of the uterus, are common, occurring in nearly 20 percent of women, although most patients are asymptomatic and don't even know that they have the condition.

Researchers from Washington University examined the ultrasound results of more than 64,000 women and compared them with birth records. They discovered that women who were diagnosed with fibroids during their pregnancy were 80 percent more likely to have a stillborn child than healthy subjects, according to the Telegraph.

Approximately 1.6 percent of expectant women with the condition had a stillbirth compared to just 0.7 percent of those that were deemed completely healthy.

"This may lead to a future recommendation for serial growth scans to monitor fetal growth in women with fibroids," said study co-author Allison Cahill.

The researchers adjusted for risk factors such as tobacco exposure, hypertension and diabetes.

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