Glossary of procedure terms
This glossary explains words you may see on an imaging report, a symptom form or a consent form for fibroids, an enlarged prostate (BPH) or embolization. Each term has its own short page with one source and a link to the full guide where the word comes up. Bring any term you are unsure about to your doctor.
Definitions are education only. They do not read your report or recommend a treatment. Talk with your doctor about what a term means for you.
Fibroids and UFE
Post-embolization syndrome
The pain, cramping, low fever, nausea and tiredness many people feel in the first days after an embolization such as UFE.
FIGO fibroid types 0 to 8
Numbers from 0 to 8 that say where a fibroid sits, from inside the uterine cavity to outside the uterus.
Submucosal, intramural and subserosal fibroids
The words for where a fibroid grows: under the inner lining, in the muscle wall, or under the outer surface.
What is adenomyosis?
A condition in which tissue from the inner lining of the uterus grows into the muscle wall.
Enlarged prostate and PAE
IPSS: the prostate symptom score
A 7-question score from 0 to 35 for urinary symptoms from an enlarged prostate (BPH).
Qmax: peak urine flow rate
The fastest speed of your urine stream on a flow test, measured in milliliters per second.
Post-void residual (PVR)
The urine left in your bladder right after you urinate, measured by ultrasound or a catheter.
Median lobe of the prostate
Prostate tissue that grows up into the opening of the bladder, also called a middle lobe.
Embolization basics
Non-target embolization
When embolization particles block blood flow to tissue that was not meant to be treated.
Radial vs femoral access: wrist or groin?
Where a catheter procedure starts: the radial artery at the wrist or the femoral artery at the groin.
Embolic particles
The tiny materials put into an artery through a catheter to block blood flow, as in UFE.