Physician Quick Search

By Name:

By Specialty:

Featured Physician

Andrew Kates, M.D.

Andrew Kates, M.D., cardiologist and long distance runner, believes physical activity is one of the most important ways to reduce the risks of heart disease.

See All Featured Physicians

Ask the Expert

Optic Neuritis

I’m a 25 years old and was just diagnosed with optic neuritis. Will my vision ever come back? Will I develop multiple sclerosis?

See All Entries

Health Update

Bunions - Not so Happy Feet

A Washington University orthopedic foot and ankle specialist, Dr. Sandra Klein, says bunions often run in families, and they don't always require treatment.

See All Health Updates

Accepted Insurance

Spare the Uterus, Save the Bikini Line

An estimated 80% of all women between the ages of 35 to 50 have uterine fibroids.

Fibroids are muscular tumors that grow in the walls of the uterus. They are almost always benign (not cancerous). A woman can have a single tumor or many of them.

One in four will have symptoms severe enough to require treatment. The most common complaints are heavy menstrual flow, cramping, bloating, and pelvic pressure. Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE), sometimes called uterine artery embolization (UAE), is a minimally invasive alternative to hysterectomy and its accompanying complications.

Michael Darcy, MD, Chief of Interventional Radiology for the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR) at Washington University has a team of specialists with decades of experience doing this procedure.

“We suspect there is a large population of women who could be successfully treated with this procedure, but who don’t know about it because their gynecologists don’t know or don’t present it as an option.” Washington University has the largest experience with UFE in the area.

The procedure takes about an hour and is done in the operating room using conscious sedation. A tiny incision is made under a local anesthetic into the femoral artery in the groin, and a thin tube is threaded into the uterine arteries where tiny particles—about the size of grains of sand—are released.

Riding along with the blood flow, they become lodged in the tiny arterioles feeding the uterus, blocking off the blood supply. These inert particles create a mechanical blockage without inflammation, causing the fibroids to shrink and disintegrate.

Nassir Siddiqi, assistant professor of radiology and an interventional radiologist with MIR, has been performing UFE for over seven years with excellent results.

Says Siddiqi, “There are many advantages of this procedure over hysterectomy: it is minimally invasive and the tiny nick in the groin leaves no scar, so it’s a good cosmetic result. Patients wake up easily after the procedure, and generally stay over one night so we can regulate pain control. Compared to abdominal surgery, the recovery is minimal.”

Please call if you think you are a candidate for this procedure or would like more information.

Patients are seen at:

Center for Advanced Medicine
4921 Parkview Place
3rd Floor
St. Louis, MO 63110

To make an appointment at the above location call 314-362-6681.

Mallinkckrodt Institute of Radiolology
510 S. Kingshighway
8th Floor
St. Louis, MO 63110

To make an appointment at the above location call 314-362-2900.

Michael Darcy, MD

Text Size: S M L

Featured Physician

Ask the Expert

Health Update

Spare the Uterus, Save the Bikini Line

View Full Site