Centre trains doctors on HIFU fibroid treatment

A fibroid treatment facility, Nordica Fibroids Care Centre has trained medical doctors on High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) technology.

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Dr Abayomi Ajayi, the Obstetrician/Gynecologist and Managing Director of the Lagos-based centre, said this while training medical doctors in Kano.

He said that the engagement with the medical doctors was to educate them on how far the centre had gone and the best way to manage fibroid.

According to the centre, it recorded 392 successful fibroid procedures in two years using High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) technology.

Ajayi explained that Nordica Fibroid Care Centre in Lagos was the only HIFU centre in West Africa, after South Africa and Egypt, established to revolutionise women’s health with the help of HIFU technology.

He explained that, “The HIFU procedure is a non-invasive way to treat uterine fibroids, using real-time ultrasound and high-intensity ultrasound waves to generate localised heat to specifically target individual fibroids to destroy the cells.

“The procedure is performed within one or two hours, depending on the size of the fibroid.

“It is necessary to undergo Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), before the surgery is done and that the journey begins with an ordinary scan.

“The treatment of fibroid has transcended from very invasive, to minimal invasive.

“Fibroids are benign lumps that grow in the uterus, prevalent in female pelvis; about 70 to 80 per cent of women below 50 years will have fibroids.

“The cause of fibroid is not sure but hormones and genetics may play a part. The risk factors for uterine fibroids include age, race, getting your period at a very young age, birth control use, being overweight and other factors.

“Many women are asymptomatic but can be diagnosed through incidental finding and other symptoms, including heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain and prolonged menstrual periods.”