A new study conducted by scientists at the Washington University in St. Louis, has established that fibroids play a significant role in intrauterine fetal death (IUFD), commonly known as stillbirth.

Fibroids, made up of muscle fiber, are tumors that grow in the uterus. They are not cancerous, and many women with fibroids have no symptoms at all.

At times these benign tumors lead to heavy bleeding and pain. In rarest of rare cases, they lead to incontinence, or infertility.

Dr Molly J Stout, one of the study's authors noted, "Fibroids are very common. We think they occur in 5% to 20% of all women, but most women are asymptomatic and don't even know they have them."

IUFD, on the other hand, is a rare phenomenon, and occurs in only six to seven times out of every thousand births.

Research methodology
For the purpose of the study, researchers examined the data on maternal socio-demo graphics, medical history, and obstetric outcomes of 64,047 women with the objective of identifying women who had fibroids between the 16th and 22nd week of pregnancy.

Thereafter, women who were detected with at least one fibroid at the time of fetal anatomic survey were compared with their counterparts without fibroids.

Researchers employed Univariate, and multiple logistic regression analyses to estimate the risk of IUFD in women with fibroids.

The study revealed that the risk was the maximum in women with fibroids whose babies were found to have intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) during an ultrasound before the stillbirth.

The study took into account factors like black race, tobacco exposure, chronic hypertension, and pregestational diabetes.

The sub group analysis
A subgroup was also conducted by presence, or absence of fetal growth restriction (IUGR). In the subgroup analysis, the risk connection between fibroids, and IUFD only carried on within the IUGR subgroup.

"Our results showed that women with a combination of fibroids and fetal growth restriction were at two-and-a-half times the risk of having a stillbirth, though the absolute risk remained rare," said Dr. Alison G. Cahill, another of the study's authors.

"This may lead to a future recommendation for serial growth scans to monitor fetal growth in women with fibroids," suggested Cahill.

The findings of the study were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM).