Tailored Radiofrequency Ablation of Uterine Myomas

September 16, 2019 updated by: Alessandro FASCIANI, International Evangelical Hospital

A Prospective Study on Radiofrequency Ablation of Uterine Fibroids (Myolysis) Under Ultrasound and Endoscopic Guidance, in Single or Combined Approach

To perform the use of radiofrequency myolysis (RFM) for the treatment of intra-uterine fibroids through less invasive access by combining trans-vaginal ultrasound, hysteroscopy and laparoscopy

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Given that the RF ablation of solid tumors of the liver and other organs is successfully used as a usual approach, the investigators have decided to transfer this technology to an original treatment of uterine fibroids. The access to each individual fibroid was determined considering passage of the needle towards its centre through only compromised tissue and by the shortest possible route by combining trans-vaginal ultrasound, hysteroscopy and laparoscopy. To optimize radiofrequency myolysis, in fact, the investigators decided to improve the procedure by inserting three innovative elements: application of a virtual needle tracking system to follow the RF electrode during the ablation session, real-time monitoring of RF ablation by contrast-enhanced ultrasound and systematic biopsy of the lesions before electro-coagulation.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
54

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Italy
      • Genoa, Italy, 16125
        • International Evangelical Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

26 years to 58 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

"Inclusion Criteria":

  • women who had symptomatic myomas with diameters ranging between 1.2 and 7.7 cm. - patients who had declined hysterectomy or laparoscopic myomectomy
  • submucosal fibroids with intramural extension ≥50%
  • intramural fibroids (FIGO G3 / G4 types)
  • subserosal fibroids (FIGO G5 / G6 types)

"Exclusion Criteria":

  • Women with intracavitary (FIGO G0 / G1 types) or subserosal-pedunculated fibroids / (FIGO G7 types)
  • genital malignancy
  • cervical dysplasias
  • pelvic infection / adhesions
  • severe systemic diseases
  • pregnancy
  • deeply infiltrating endometriosis
  • patients who took gonadotropin-releasing hormone therapy or acetate ulipristal within 6 months

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Radiofrequency myolysis of uterine fibroids
54 premenopausal participants with symptomatic uterine myomas
Device: RADIOFREQUENCY ABLATION OF UTERINE MYOMAS
The ablation device consisted of an radiofrequency (RF) energy generator (STARmed, RF generator VRS01) and an electric pump for the continuous cooling of the electrode tip. The RF generator to which the electrode (STARmed Gyeonggi-Do, Korea) is connected displays simultaneously the temperature of the electrode tip, the tissue impedance characteristics, the power and the ablation time. A 35 cm long 18Gauge internally cooled electrode with an exposed tip of 10 mm or a variable exposed tip was used
Other Names:
  • Radiofrequency myolysis (RFM)
  • RF lesion generator for tissue ablation during surgical procedures. Sterile single-use RF coagulation monopolar electrode.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Myoma volumes after radiofrequency myolysis (RFM)
Time Frame: 12 months
The outcomes evaluated after RFM were myoma volumes (cubic centimeters)
12 months
Myoma diameters after radiofrequency myolysis (RFM)
Time Frame: 12 months
The outcomes evaluated after RFM were myoma diameters (centimeters)
12 months
Uterine Fibroid Symptom and Quality of Life (UFS-QOL) score after radiofrequency myolysis (RFM)
Time Frame: 12 months
Uterine Fibroid Symptom and Quality of Life (UFS-QOL) questionnaire with scores ranging from 0 to 100, were higher QOL scores mean a better health-related QOL 1 and a 10-point scale used for each reported symptom.
12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Surgical time of radiofrequency myolysis (RFM)
Time Frame: 12 months
The surgical time (minutes) for each different type of surgical access
12 months
Surgical time of radiofrequency myolysis (RFM) assisted by new technologies
Time Frame: 12 months
The reduction of surgical time (minutes) with the use of a virtual global positioning system (GPS) track system or a contrast-enhanced ultrasound during the ablation
12 months
Pre-intervention biopsy associated to radiofrequency myolysis (RFM)
Time Frame: 12 months
The number of biopsies for treated fibroma
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
International Evangelical Hospital

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Alessandro FASCIANI, International Evangelical Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 1, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 1, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 31, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 21, 2019

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 13, 2019

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
September 16, 2019

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 18, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 16, 2019

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 295/2018

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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