Objectives: To analyse the effect of dydrogesterone use during pregnancy on uterine fibroids, pregnancy complications, and pregnancy outcome.
Material and methods: In all, 372 pregnant women with uterine fibroids who were treated at the Affiliated Provincial Hospital of Shandong University were included in this study. Thirty-three of these women received dydrogesterone and constituted the treatment group, and the 27 women who were found to have uterine fibroids during the first trimester but did not receive intervention to prevent miscarriage composed the control group. The changes in uterine fibroids before and after pregnancy and the pregnancy complications were recorded; immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of progesterone receptor (PR) and proliferation- and apoptosis-related proteins in the uterine fibroid tissue.
Results: No significant difference was observed in the change in uterine fibroid volume during pregnancy between the treatment group and the control group (p > 0.05). The percentage of uterine fibroids with red degeneration was lower in the treatment group than in the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant. No significant difference was observed in newborn weight, height, Apgar score, threatened miscarriage, or premature birth, among other characteristics, between the two groups (p > 0.05). Immunohistochemistry showed no significant difference in the expression of PR, cyclinD1, insulin-like growth factor (IGF1), or B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) between the two groups.
Conclusions: The use of dydrogesterone during pregnancy has no significant effect on uterine fibroids, pregnancy progression, or pregnancy outcomes in pregnant patients with uterine fibroids.
Keywords: dydrogesterone; miscarriage; pregnancy; uterine fibroids.