The Detroit Medical Center Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital in Commerce Township is the first in Michigan to introduce the Sonata procedure, a minimally invasive, incision-free solution for symptomatic uterine fibroids. Sonata is from Gynesonics, a women’s health care company based in California.
Fibroids are benign growths in or around the uterus; about 70 percent of white women and more than 80 percent of black women have the condition before the age of 50. The fibroids can cause significant and debilitating symptoms, including heavy menstrual bleeding. Symptoms may worsen over time if left untreated, and more than 2 million women in the U.S. undergo treatment for uterine fibroids each year.
“I was very impressed by the results of the clinical studies and the positive impact Sonata had on women’s lives,” says Dr. Danny Benjamin, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital. “The incision-free nature of Sonata addresses the growing preference of women seeking less-invasive procedures that preserve the uterus.
“We can now offer a new, advanced gynecologic treatment option to women with symptomatic uterine fibroids that has a very fast recovery, with an excellent reduction in heavy menstrual bleeding symptoms, and which allows them to avoid invasive surgery.”
The system uses an ultrasound handpiece from within the uterine cavity to locate and target individual fibroids. Radiofrequency is delivered to shrink the fibroids and reduce symptoms. The treatment is an alternative to hysterectomy (surgery to remove all or part of the uterus) and myomectomy (surgery to remove uterine fibroids) and can treat a range of fibroid types, sizes, and locations.
As the fibroids are treated from inside the uterus, treatment with Sonata requires no incisions, no tissue is surgically removed, and the uterus is preserved.
In clinical trials, within three months following treatment, 86 percent of women experienced a reduction in heavy menstrual bleeding, and 95 percent experienced a reduction in menstrual bleeding by 12 months. Additionally, 50 percent of patients returned to normal activities the day after the procedure.
“Concerns about risks and recovery time associated with more invasive surgery are a major deterrent to women seeking treatment for fibroids,” says Chris Owens, president and CEO of Gynesonics. “Sonata offers an alternative to not only hysterectomy and myomectomy, but also for those women not satisfied with medical therapy, including hormonal treatment and hormone-releasing IUDs (intrauterine devices).”
Gynesonics develops minimally invasive, incision-free transcervical technologies for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
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