Region’s experts lead £1.8m study on improving pregnancy hopes

FERTILITY EXPERTS in Sheffield are to lead a pioneering £1.8m study evaluating if removing smaller fibroids and endometrial polyps improves women’s chances of a successful pregnancy.

The experts from Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are involved in the study funded by the National Institute for Health Research, which is to be run at 30 gynaecology and fertility centres across the UK.

It will be the first to assess if removing fibroids and endometrial polyps of less than 3cm (1.2in) is an effective way to improve women’s chances of having a baby.

Fibroids and endometrial polyps, or non-cancerous tumours of the uterus, are common, especially in reproductive-age women.

However, although these growths have long been linked to problems associated with getting pregnant, there is limited evidence to demonstrate their removal improves fertility.

The grant is the third successive multi-million pound funding obtained by gynaecologists and researchers at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals’ Jessop Wing in the past few years. The research will be supported by the University of Sheffield’s Clinical Research Trials Unit.

Mr Mostafa Metwally, chief investigator and consultant gynaecologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are delighted to be leading this £2m study. Hysteroscopy is an optional additional treatment offered to women with smaller fibroids and endometrial polyps as part of their fertility treatment. Yet there is little clinical evidence to support its use in those undergoing IVF or assisted conception.”

The team said the consecutive grant award underpinned its reputation as the UK’s top research centre for reproductive health studies aiming to improve the care of women who plan, provide or receive infertility care and treatment from the NHS.

Clare Pye, Lead Research Nurse for the study at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “All our research is designed with patients in mind, so we are delighted to be at the forefront of yet another major funding award.”

Around 20 to 40 per cent of women with unexplained infertility are found to have fibroids and 15 to 20 per cent endometrial polyps.

The study is expected to take around two and a half years to complete.