Kristen A. Matteson, MD, MPH, of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women & Infants Hospital and assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, has earned a $1.6 million grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health to study the effectiveness of two treatments options for heavy menstrual bleeding.
"Heavy menstrual bleeding is one of the most common gynecologic problems women encounter," explained Dr. Matteson. "It is such an important problem to study because heavy menstrual bleeding has a negative impact on a woman's quality of life, often leading women to utilize expensive medical resources."
There are two commonly prescribed non-surgical treatments for heavy menstrual bleeding – combined oral contraceptives and the levonorgestrel intrauterine system (the use of an intrauterine device (IUD) with progestogen). However, studies comparing these treatments are extremely limited.
The primary goal of the study is to determine the relative effectiveness of both treatment options in improving the quality of life in women with heavy menstrual bleeding. The study will also compare rates of treatment failure (defined as stopping the treatment and/or request for surgery).
Dr. Matteson continued, "This study is significant because heavy menstrual bleeding is a gynecologic problem that adversely affects quality of life for a substantial number of women. Optimizing the quality of life in women with heavy menstrual bleeding with non-surgical treatments should ultimately reduce the number of surgical interventions performed and decrease health care costs."
Enrollment in the study will begin in the fall. Women with heavy menstrual periods and without contraindications to either combined oral contraceptives or the levonorgestrel intrauterine system will be eligible. Once enrollment begins, information for women interested in participating in the study will be posted on the Women & Infants website, http://www.womenandinfants.org.
About Women & Infants Hospital
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation's leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. The primary teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women's medicine, Women & Infants is the ninth largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country with nearly 8,400 deliveries per year. In 2009, Women & Infants opened what was at the time the country's largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.
New England's premier hospital for women and newborns, Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, breast disease, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation's only mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation's only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.
Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Center of Excellence from the American College of Radiology; a Center for In Vitro Maturation Excellence by SAGE In Vitro Fertilization; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health; a National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers through the American College of Surgeons; and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute's Gynecologic Oncology Group and the National Institutes of Health's Pelvic Floor Disorders Network.