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What are Fibroids?
A fibroid is a benign (non cancerous) tumor (growth) in the muscle of the wall of a
woman's uterus. It is also known by the names LEIOMYOMA UTERI, LEIOMYOMA, OR MYOMA.
They are an extremely important public health issue, especially for women, because:
 | they are the commonest tumor that grows in the pelvis of women |
| 50 - 80% of women have them |
| they are the most common indication for hysterectomy(the most frequently performed major
surgical proceedure in the U.S. |
| they have been responsible at least 1/3 of admissions of women to a gyn hospital service |
| 500,000 - 600,000 hysterectomies are performed in the U.S. annually at a cost of
US$4billion. At least 30% of this cost is attributable to fibroids. |
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