Uterine leiomyoma is a benign tumor that develops in the myometrium of the uterus. Estrogen is involved in the development and increase of uterine leiomyoma, and even in patients who had strong symptoms before menopause, uterine leiomyoma significantly shrinks after menopause. However, since the cells of uterine leiomyoma have a wide variety of properties, various pathological conditions of uterine leiomyoma are observed in clinical practice. Intravenous leiomyomatosis (IVL) is a relatively rare benign tumor in which smooth muscle tissue grows and spreads intravenously. Intravenous leiomyoma is histologically benign, but it is an important disease that sometimes spreads continuously to the inferior vena cava and the heart and can cause sudden death. Benign metastasizing leiomyoma (BML) is a condition in which metastatic lesions of benign leiomyoma are found in distant organs in women with a history of uterine leiomyoma. In BML, metastasis to the lung is most common. In this editorial, we discuss the several types of uterine leiomyoma with the latest information.
Leiomyoma; Intravenous leiomyomatosis; Benign metastasizing leiomyoma; Leiomyosarcoma.