Clinical and endometrial effects of oestradiol and progesterone in post-menopausal women

Abstract

This study reports the clinical effects in a group of post-menopausal women after 4 months of treatment with 2 mg micronized 17β-oestradiol (E 2) in combination with different doses of micronized progesterone (50, 100 or 200 mg) for 25 days each month. The 30 participants were divided into three groups. All of the subjects tolerated the preparation well and obtained relief from their climacteric complaints. None dropped out because of side effects and no changes were observed in blood pressure, weight or Papanicolaou cytology. Breakthrough bleeding was noted in the first cycle, mainly in the group receiving the lowest dose of progesterone. Endometrial biopsies performed before and after 4 months of treatment showed an atrophic endometrium in most of the women who received 100 mg progesterone and in all of the women on 200 mg progesterone. The results showed that this new combination of 2 mg E 2 and micronized progesterone in different doses was both effective and well accepted.