VAGINAL BLEEDING PATTERNS IN USERS OF PERLUTAL(R), A ONCE-A-MONTH INJECTABLE CONTRACEPTIVE CONSISTING OF 10 MG ESTRADIOL ENANTHATE COMBINEDWITH 150 MG DIHYDROXYPROGESTERONE ACETOPHENIDE - A TRIAL OF 5462 WOMAN-MONTHS

Perlutal(R) (other names: Topasel(R), Perlutan(R)) is a once-a-month i njectable contraceptive that contains 10 mg estradiol enanthate and 15 0 mg dihydroxyprogesterone acetophenide. A prospective trial was condu cted in 216 women in Medellin, Colombia, over Jive years (5,462 woman- months) to establish the rates of the different vaginal bleeding patte rns during the use of Perlutal, and to assess their relation with disc ontinuation of the Perlutal regimen. It was found that with the use of Perlutal, the duration of menstrual bleeding decreased from 3.9 to 2. 7 days (p <0.01), and that the incidence of dysmenorrhea decreased fro m 31% to 1.6% (p <0.01). At one year of follow-up, the incidence of al tered bleeding patterns was 5.1%. The discontinuation rate due to an a ltered bleeding pattern was 3.9%. It is concluded that the low inciden ce of altered bleeding patterns observed with the use of Perlutal lead s to a low discontinuation rate among users. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.