Preface

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, working in partnership with the Food and Drug Administration Office of Women's Health, is pleased to bring you The FIBROID Registry—Report of Structure, Methods, and Initial Results.

The Agency achieves its mission through health services research that reflects a pipeline of activities that together build the infrastructure, strategies, and information that health care professionals and the health care system can use to improve how they provide care to the American people. Despite limitations imposed by data from registries (e.g., loss-to-followup, no comparison group, no validation by a core imaging lab, reliability of physician's reports on short-term and long-term outcomes) the information provided in this report is very useful and will help researchers and practitioners assess their own cases, evaluate where there are gaps, and plan for future research on the outcomes of uterine artery embolization.

As with most studies analyzing data from registries, additional questions are raised, which may require further data collection to overcome the limitations imposed by incomplete ascertainment of the actual patient's history and outcomes. As data continue to be gathered, future opportunities may surface to clarify the long-term benefits and immediate complications of this procedure, evaluate the impact of anatomic factors on potential recurrences, and identify possible problems or complications linked to fertility and pregnancy.

We welcome written comments on this report. They may be sent to Director of Women's Health and Gender-Based Research, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850.

Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D.
Director
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Rosaly Correa-de-Araujo, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D.
Director of Women's Health & Gender-Based Research
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

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