The Prevalence of Uterine Fibroids in African American Women with Hemoglobin SS Sickle Cell Disease as Determined by Pelvic Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Rationale and Objectives This study explores the relationship between the development of uterine fibroids and hemoglobin SS sickle cell disease (SCD) by examining the prevalence of uterine fibroids as detected by pelvic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in African American (AA) women with and without SCD. Materials and Methods A single-center, retrospective review was performed of all adult AA women at a large, academic medical center who received pelvic MRI from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2018. Propensity score matching conditional on age and ZIP code evaluated the differences in fibroid prevalence between the two groups. Subanalyses by age in 10-year intervals were also performed. Results Twenty-one (23.9%) of 88 patients with SCD had fibroids on pelvic MRI versus 1493 (52.1%) of 2868 patients without SCD (p value Conclusion These findings indicate an overall significantly lower prevalence of uterine fibroids in AA women with SCD, suggesting that SCD may be protective against the development of uterine fibroids in these patients.