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Abstract Study question Does definitive occlusion of uterine arteries have a short or long term impact on anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels in reproductive age women undergoing laparoscopic myomectomy? Summary answer Preventive uterine artery occlusion during laparoscopic myomectomy does not impact AMH levels in reproductive age women. What is known already Uterine leiomyoma are the most common benign tumours in women of reproductive age. For symptomatic women willing to retain their uterus, especially for a future pregnancy, the current gold standard is the myomectomy for subserous/intramural leiomyoma. Temporary or definitive occlusion of uterine arteries can be performed to control bleeding during surgery but its impact on ovarian reserve markers is still unknown. A single randomized trial with a one-year follow-up demonstrated that temporary bilateral uterine artery occlusion during laparoscopic myomectomy slightly decreased AMH levels at day-2 after surgery but has no impact thereafter 3, 6 and 12 months postoperatively. Study design, size, duration We conducted a randomized controlled trial with a two-year follow-up evaluating the effect of definitive occlusion of uterine arteries on ovarian reserve via sequential measures of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels. Fifty-eight women with symptomatic leiomyoma type FIGO 3-6 scheduled for laparoscopic myomectomy at were included between July 2015 and October 2021. Participants/materials, setting, methods Patients were randomized into: the intervention group (laparoscopic myomectomy with preventive occlusion of uterine arteries) and the control group (laparoscopic myomectomy without occlusion of uterine arteries) ). AMH evaluated at T0 and followed at 1 month (T1), 3 months (T3), 6 months (T6), 12 months (T12) and 24 months (T24) after surgery. Intraoperative blood loss, leiomyoma recurrence and adenomyosis occurrence were also evaluated comparing pre- and post-operative findings. Finally, pregnancies and live births were monitored. Main results and the role of chance Women in both groups did not differ in their baseline characteristics in terms of age, body mass index, ethnicity, parity, wish to become pregnant, hormonal treatment, leiomyoma number and size, baseline haemoglobin levels, bleeding symptoms baseline AMH levels and antral follicular count (AFC). The mean operative time was similar in between both groups. Mean blood loss during surgery was on average 138 (±104)ml in the intervention group versus 436 (±498)ml in controls (p 0.001). The difference in haemoglobin between before and after surgery was significantly higher in the control group 21.8 (±12.7)g/l compared with the intervention group 14.8 (±8.9)g/l (p = 0.02). Regarding clinical symptoms, most patients had decreased menstrual flow at the last follow-up visit (24 months) compared to baseline in both group improvement of dysmenorrhea followed the same trend with a reduction in pain levels in both groups. Risk of leiomyoma recurrence was found similar between both groups. Most importantly, AMH levels were similar between groups at all times (T1, T3, T6, T12 and T24) and non-inferiority of preventive occlusion was demonstrated with a non-inferiority margin of -3.5pmol/L (0.5 ng/ml). The pregnancy rate was not different between groups. Limitations, reasons for caution Our sample size was calculated to detect a clinically relevant difference of at least two-third of the standard deviation in AMH levels, but we cannot exclude a smaller impact on AMH with a different sample size. Wider implications of the findings Preventive uterine artery occlusion during laparoscopic myomectomy does not impact ovarian reserve markers and can be safely used to control perioperative bleeding. Trial registration number NCT02563392
Lambat et al. (Mon,) studied this question.