O. Gregoriou et al., GONADOTROPIN-RELEASING-HORMONE ANALOG PLUS HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY FOR THE TREATMENT OF ENDOMETRIOSIS - A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL, International journal of fertility and women's medicine, 42(6), 1997, pp. 406-411
Objective-The aim of this study was to determine whether or not contin
uous combined HRT used with GnRH-a for the treatment of endometriosis
can prevent hypoestrogenic side effects associated with GnRH-a. Method
s-Forty premenopausal women with laparoscopically proven endometriosis
entered the study. The patients were randomized into two groups. Grou
p I (n = 19)! received 3.75 mg IM leuprolide acetate (LA) ever); 4 wee
ks for 24 weeks. Group II (n = 21) received 3.7 mg LA combined with 1.
25 mg oral conjugated equine estrogen (CEE) and 5 mg oral medroxyproge
sterone acetate (MA). Results-Total revised AFS score as well as total
pelvic pain scores decreased significantly (P <.001) in both groups.
However, a statistically significant difference of hot flushes and swe
ating was reported by women receiving LA + HRT as compared to those tr
eated with LA alone (P <.001). Furthermore, the bone loss at the lumba
r spine was 4.2% in group I compared to 0.9% in group II at the end of
the study.;. Conclusions-This study suggests that 1.25 mg CEE + 5 mg
MA is effective in preventing hypoestrogenic side effects caused by Gn
RH-a, while the treatment of endometriosis is not impaired.