[Treatment with low-dose vaginal estradiol in post-menopausal women. A double-blind controlled trial]. [Prevention and treatment of recurrent urinary system infection with estrogen cream in postmenopausal women]. Efficacy of low-dose intravaginal estriol on urogenital aging in postmenopausal women. Efficacy of sustained-release vaginal oestriol in alleviating urogenital and systemic climacteric complaints. Oestriol in the prophylactic treatment of recurrent urinary tract infections in postmenopausal women. The effect of oestrogen supplementation on post-menopausal urinary stress incontinence: a double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Urinary tract infections in postmenopausal women: effect of hormone therapy and risk factors. Preoperative treatment with oestradiol in women scheduled for vaginal operation for genital prolapse. A randomised, double-blind trial. [Transvaginal estrogen therapy in urinary stress incontinence].
Twenty-three postmenopausal women with recurrent cystitis were allorted at random to treatment for five months with local oestrogen in the vagina or placebo treatment with the object of assessing the local effect on the vaginal epithelium and on the tendency to recurrent cystitis. The therapeutic group and the placebo group were entirely comparable prior to treatment. In the therapeutic group, the oestrogen index in vaginal scrapings was significantly higher after treatment than in the placebo group (p less than 0.01). The number of positive urine cultures and the patients/satisfaction with treatment wee not significantly different in the two groups. To evaluate the effect and feasibility of using estrogen cream for the prevention and treatment of recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI) in postmenopausal women.
                Forty-five postmenopausal women with a history of recurrent UTI were divided into two groups (group premarin and group antibiotic). Participants were assigned to apply intravaginal premarin cream (group premarin, n = 30) or oral antibiotic (group antibiotic, n = 15) for 3 months respectively. Urine routine test, midstream urine and vaginal cultures, vaginal health score (VHS), vaginal cell maturation value (MV), endometrial thickness and blood estrogen level were obtained before and after the study.
                The incidence of UTI in the group premarin was significantly reduced as compared with that in the group antibiotic (2/27 vs. 12/15, P < 0.001). In the group premarin Lactobacilli reappeared (from 0 to 59.3%) and MV (from 9.2 +/- 6.8 to 74.6 +/- 14.1) and VHS (from 5.2 +/- 0.4 to 13.4 +/- 2.5) were improved after 3 months. There was no significant change in the group antibiotic.
                It seems that intravaginal use of estrogen cream would effectively prevent and reduce the UTI in postmenopausal women. To assess the efficacy and safety of intravaginal estriol administration on urinary incontinence, urogenital atrophy, and recurrent urinary tract infections in postmenopausal women.
                Eighty-eight postmenopausal women with urogenital aging symptoms were enrolled in this prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Participants were randomly divided into two groups, with each group consisting of 44 women. Women in the treatment group received intravaginal estriol ovules: 1 ovule (1 mg) once daily for 2 weeks and then 2 ovules once weekly for a total of 6 months as maintenance therapy. Women in the control group received inert placebo vaginal suppositories in a similar regimen. We evaluated urogenital symptomatology, urine cultures, colposcopic findings, urethral cytologic findings, urethral pressure profiles, and urethrocystometry before as well as after 6 months of treatment.
                After therapy, the symptoms and signs of urogenital atrophy significantly improved in the treatment group in comparison with the control group. Thirty (68%) of the treated participants, and only seven (16%) of the control participants registered a subjective improvement of their incontinence. In the treated participants, we observed significant improvements of colposcopic findings, and there were statistically significant increases in mean maximum urethral pressure, in mean urethral closure pressure as well as in the abdominal pressure transmission ratio to the proximal urethra. Urethrocystometry showed positive but not statistically significant modifications.
                Our results show that intravaginal administration of estriol may represent a satisfactory therapeutic choice for those postmenopausal women with urogenital tract disturbances who have contraindications or refuse to undergo standard hormone therapy. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 109 patients suffering from local and vasomotor postmenopausal complaints were randomly assigned to treatment with either depot vaginal suppositories containing 3.5 mg oestriol (E3) or a placebo. The treatment schedule comprised one vaginal suppository twice weekly for 3 weeks initially, followed by maintenance therapy with one vaginal suppository weekly for the 6-month study period. The effectiveness of the therapy was assessed on the basis of questionnaires (Kupperman index for vasomotor complaints and an original urogenital index for local complaints) and gynaecological examinations which included assessments of vaginal cytology, vaginal pH and Döderlein bacilli. To rule out induced endometrial proliferation, endometrial biopsies were performed in 50 women before and after the study. The vaginal depot (E3) formulation showed highly significant superiority over the placebo with respect to therapeutic effect on local urogenital complaints and alleviation of vasomotor complaints, including hot flushes. Analysis of the endometrial biopsies indicated that the monotherapy used caused no endometrial stimulation. Taking into account the minimal rate of adverse effects, the 3.5 mg E3 depot formulation studied represents a useful variant in the range of preparations available for the treatment of post-menopausal complaints. A block randomized, double-blind, group-comparative, placebo-controlled study was conducted to assess the effect of oestriol on recurrent urinary tract infections in postmenopausal women. 40 women, median age 78 years (66-91), 20 in each group, were treated with oestriol three mg p.o. per day or corresponding placebo for four weeks, followed by one mg per day for eight weeks. The main response parameter was the number of urinary tract infections per week in the two treatment periods. Both oestriol and placebo reduced the number of infections per week significantly in both periods, compared with the pretreatment period. There was no difference between oestriol and placebo treatment in the first period. In the second period, however, oestriol treatment was significantly more effective than placebo (p = 0.05). Correspondingly, there was a significant difference between the two groups in the vaginal pH at the end of the study (p less than 0.05). We conclude that oestriol reduces recurrent urinary tract infections in postmenopausal women. To investigate the effect of hormone replacement therapy on post-menopausal urinary stress incontinence.
                Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised trial.
                University associated teaching hospital.
                Post-menopausal women with genuine stress incontinence, not taking hormone replacement therapy.
                Randomisation to six months therapy with oestradiol valerate 2 mg daily or placebo. Assessment prior to treatment and upon study completion with the SF-36 health status questionnaire, the Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms questionnaire, a one week urinary diary, one hour perineal pad test, cystometry and urethral profilometry.
                Sixty-seven women consented to participate, 33 were randomised to receive oestradiol. Mean age was 63 years. Five women failed to undergo repeat assessment, three of whom were receiving oestrogen. Six women receiving oestradiol experienced breakthrough bleeding during the six months and were subsequently treated with additional monthly progestogen. No significant effect of oestrogen over placebo was observed for any subjective or objective clinical outcome.
                This trial is one of the largest controlled studies yet reported, with the longest duration of treatment. No improvement in post-menopausal stress incontinence was demonstrated after six months therapy with oestradiol. This concurs with another study reported recently; it seems unlikely that oestrogen has a significant role to play in this condition. To assess the effects of hormone therapy on urinary tract infection frequency and to examine potential risk factors.
                We used data from the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study, a randomized, blinded trial of the effects of hormone therapy on coronary heart disease events among 2763 postmenopausal women aged 44-79 with established coronary heart disease. Participants were randomly assigned to 0.625 mg of conjugated estrogens plus 2.5 mg of medroxyprogesterone acetate or placebo and followed for a mean of 4.1 years. History of physician-diagnosed urinary tract infections and risk factors were assessed by self-report at baseline and each annual visit.
                Urinary tract infection frequency was higher in the group randomized to hormone treatment, although the difference was not statistically significant (odds ratio [OR] 1.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.99, 1.37). Statistically significant risk factors for urinary tract infections in multivariable analysis included: women with diabetes on treatment (insulin OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.40, 2.34), oral medications OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.09, 1.90), poor health (OR 1.34, 95% CI 1.14, 1.57), childbirth (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.00, 1.90), vaginal itching (OR 1.63, 95% CI 1.07, 2.50), vaginal dryness (OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.04, 1.67), and urge incontinence (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.30, 1.75). Urinary tract infections in the previous year were strongly associated with a single urinary tract infection (OR 7.00, 95% CI 5.91, 8.29) as well as multiple urinary tract infections (OR 18.51, 95% CI 14.27, 24.02).
                Oral hormone therapy did not reduce frequency of urinary tract infections. Potentially modifiable risk factors in postmenopausal women are different from those in younger women, and include diabetes, vaginal symptoms, and urge incontinence. To disclose a clinical and histopathological effect of local low-dose oestradiol treatment on the vagina.
                A randomised, double-blind trial.
                Two gynaecological departments at University Hospitals.
                Forty-eight postmenopausal women scheduled for surgery because of genital prolapse.
                25 micrograms oestradiol or placebo, administered as vaginal pessaries daily, 3 weeks prior to surgery.
                Cytological, histological and clinical changes of the vaginal mucosa.
                The thickness of the vaginal wall increased as did the oestrogenic index. No clinical effect was seen apart from decreased incidence of recurrent cystitis postoperatively.
                Preoperative oestrogen treatment has been shown to reduce the incidence of recurrent cystitis and may be needed for stimulation of vaginal mucosa; the short-term clinical effect is not convincing, however. Thirty-four postmenopausal stress incontinence patients were divided in two groups: 17 were treated with 0.5 mg oestriol vaginal cream for 90 days, 17 controls were treated with moisturizing cream. All had low urethral pressures and dystrophy. Treated patients showed improvement of maximum urethral pressure, urethral closure pressure, and volume at first sensation of fullness. Dystrophy was cured in most patients; in 17% incontinence was cured and in 41% subjectively improved.
Based on only two studies comparing vaginal oestrogens to placebo, vaginal oestrogens reduced the number of UTIs in postmenopausal women with RUTI, however this varied according to the type of oestrogen used and the treatment duration.