By Birgit Buerkner
Dissolve benign tumors without an incision. Prof. Dr. Mandy Mangler (44), chief physician for gynecology at the Vivantes clinics, melts them with heat.
She is the first to offer this gentle new procedure in Berlin – at the Auguste-Viktoria-Klinikum (Friedenau).
Around ten percent of women of childbearing age develop so-called fibroids in the uterus. Signs of these benign muscle knots can be heavy bleeding and severe menstrual pain, which can progressively worsen.
The new method, invented by an American company (technical name: Sonata method), is suitable for fibroids up to about seven centimeters in size that lie in the wall of the uterus.
Prof. Mangler: “The tumors are treated from inside the uterus, so that no abdominal incision and not even the small holes for the minimally invasive procedure are required and the uterus is preserved.”
The doctor inserts a treatment device (looks like a lighter) into the uterus via the natural body access. At its tip is a probe that emits ultrasonic waves and detects the fibroids.
The doctor inserts the Sonata treatment device through the vagina into the uterus Photo: Gynesonics, sonatatreatment.de
At the tip, the device emits ultrasonic waves that determine the location of the fibroid Photo: Gynesonics, sonatatreatment.de
It is then fixed with a needle, and thin electrodes are inserted into the tissue, which shrink it with high-frequency current Photo: Gynesonics, sonatatreatment.de
Each fibroid to be treated is fixed with a needle and thin electrodes are inserted into the tissue. These heat it up to 100 degrees for a few minutes with radio frequency energy, high-frequency current.
“Once the treatment is complete, the previously heated fibroid tissue is broken down by the body over the next few months,” says Mangler. “The symptoms are alleviated or even eliminated. The treatment is significantly shorter than surgical alternatives and leaves no scars.”