Uterine fibromyomata in uban blacks

Abstract

An attempt was made in a study of 100 consecutive cases of fibroids of the uterus to substantiate the commonlyaccepted signs and symptoms associated with fibromyomata. Menorrhagia commonly attributed to submucous fibroids occurred in less than 50% of cases. Dysmenorrhoea was also surprisingly less common than expected (30%). Pelvic sepsis was seen in 75% of the patients, and most local symptoms related to fibroids may be due to the associated pelvic sepsis. There was no statistical difference between the control patients and the fibroid group as regards parity. There were 29 nulliparous women; 19 had had one child and the remainder (52%) had more than two children. This suggests that fibroids may not be a dominant factor (as is usually claimed) in the production of infertility. The very common associated finding of pelvic infection may be the culprit. Hypertension attributed to ureteric obstruction does not appear to be substantiated, and does not appear to be related to the fibroids per se. Menorrhagia is common (75%), yet a group of patients with hypertension and fibroids did not have anaemia. It is well documented that fibroids may be associated with secondary polycythaemia, but the association of hypertension and polycythaemia has been interesting. There was no obvious relationship between the size of the fibroid uterus, the hypertension recordings and the haemoglobin levels. However, the greater the blood pressure reading, the higher the haemoglobin level appeared to be.

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