Will fibroids get worse during pregnancy?

Breast fibroids are a common disease in women, and there are many causes of breast fibroids. Generally, it is caused by abnormal ovarian secretion or endocrine problems. Pregnancy with fibroids is very bad for the body. It is best to treat it before pregnancy. If fibroids appear during pregnancy, surgical treatment can be performed after pregnancy.

Breast fibroadenomas are benign and rarely become malignant.

Guidance:

1. It is best to remove it surgically before pregnancy (since there is no drug treatment)

2. If there is a sudden enlargement during pregnancy, surgery can be performed immediately. It won't disappear.

3. Choose a time for surgery after delivery.

Causes

The ovaries are functioning vigorously, the estrogen levels are too high, and the regulation is unbalanced. In addition, the patient is sensitive to estrogen. Under the long-term stimulation of estrogen, the breast epithelial tissue and fibrous tissue proliferate excessively, the structure becomes disordered, and a tumor is formed. Since breast fibroadenoma is related to vigorous secretion of sex hormones, it mostly occurs in young women and is rare in women before menstruation or after menopause.

Clinical manifestations

It is mainly a painless breast lump, rarely accompanied by breast pain or nipple discharge. Lumps are often discovered accidentally, while bathing, or during a physical examination. Most lumps are single, but they can also be multiple, or they can be felt in both breasts simultaneously or successively. Most of them are round or oval, with a diameter of 1 to 3 cm, but there are also smaller or larger ones, and occasionally huge ones. The boundaries are clear, the edges are neat, the surface is smooth, elastic, there is no tenderness, the range of motion is large, and there is no adhesion to the skin.

examine

1. Color Doppler Ultrasound

It can display the structures of each layer of the breast and the shape, size and echo condition of the mass. Breast fibroadenomas are mostly round or oval, uniformly hypoechoic masses on color Doppler ultrasound. Smooth and clear capsule echoes are often visible. The echo behind the mass is normal or slightly enhanced. Lateral acoustic shadows can be seen, and coarse calcifications accompanied by acoustic shadows can be seen inside the mass. Color Doppler showed no blood flow signal or only a small amount of blood flow signal in the mass, and RI < 0.7.

2. Mammography

Adolescent girls with dense breasts are not suitable for mammography. In breast X-rays of middle-aged women and above, fibroadenomas appear as round or oval masses, or lobed masses, with a diameter of 1 to 3 cm and smooth and clear edges. Compared with normal glands of the same volume, the masses have equal or slightly higher density and may be surrounded by a low-density halo. Calcification can be seen in some lesions. Calcification is mostly located in the center or edge of the tumor and is mostly coarse granular, dendritic or spotted. It can also merge into large masses, occupying most or all of the tumor, which is different from the clustered sand-like calcification foci of breast cancer.

3. Breast lesion biopsy

For breast lumps that are difficult to identify based on medical history, physical examination, or imaging examination, a biopsy or surgical resection can be performed for histopathological examination to confirm the diagnosis.

diagnosis

The breasts are located on the surface of the body, and typical breast fibroadenomas are relatively easy to diagnose. Adolescent females may accidentally or during a physical examination discover a painless breast lump of 1 to 3 cm, round or oval, with no adhesions to the surrounding area, high mobility, and a sense of slippage when palpated; it grows slowly and is unrelated to the menstrual cycle; clinically, it may be considered a breast fibroadenoma. However, after pregnancy, especially in postmenopausal women, if a painless lump is found in the breast, you should be vigilant and not easily diagnose it as breast fibroadenoma. You should use imaging examinations to make a differential diagnosis and, if necessary, confirm the diagnosis based on pathological histological examination.

treat

1. Close observation and regular follow-up

Breast fibroadenomas are common benign tumors that rarely become malignant. It develops slowly, has no symptoms, does not affect life and work, and can be closely observed and followed up regularly.

2. Surgical resection

(1) During the observation process, if you self-examine your breasts or go to the hospital for examination and find that the fibroadenoma tends to grow, or if the color Doppler ultrasound originally showed no blood flow signals in the tumor but now shows a large amount of blood flow signals, it should be surgically removed.

(2) Patients with breast fibroids should undergo fibroadenoma removal before preparing for pregnancy. Cause: a. The occurrence of breast fibroadenoma is related to the increase of estrogen levels. During pregnancy and lactation, as the hormone levels in the body change, the tumor volume can increase rapidly. b. Breast surgery and invasive examinations are not recommended during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

(3) Giant fibroadenomas (juvenile fibroadenomas) in adolescents should be considered for surgical removal because of their rapid growth and large size, which squeezes normal breast tissue. The surgery will not have an adverse effect on subsequent pregnancy and breastfeeding.

(4) Those with a family history of breast cancer may consider surgical resection.