title: Local treatment of urogenital atrophy with an estradiol-releasing vaginal ring: a comparative and a placebo-controlled multicenter study. Vaginal Ring Study Group.
abstract: Local estrogen substitution has been shown to be more appropriate than any systemic application for the treatment of urogenital symptoms of hormone deficiency. The efficacy, safety and acceptability of a new low-dose drug delivery system consisting of an estradiol-releasing silicone vaginal ring was studied in two multicenter trials. In an open-label comparative trial a total of 219 postmenopausal women were randomized to the estradiol-releasing vaginal ring or to estriol suppositories. In terms of efficacy both treatment arms were shown to be equivalent; however, significantly higher rates of acceptability were found for the vaginal ring. In a double-blinded placebo-controlled study a total of 84 patients were randomized to either treatment arm for a period of 24 weeks. The statistically significant improvement of the vaginal epithelial pH and maturation values demonstrated the efficacy of the estradiol-releasing vaginal ring compared to the placebo ring.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Casper
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D004958:Estradiol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D052776:Female Urogenital Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010570:Pessaries; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D004958:Estradiol