Long-term persistence with denosumab: real-world data from the Austrian Osteoporosis Clinic (AOC). A retrospective data analysis.

Unlabelled: In short-term studies, persistence with denosumab has been higher than with other osteoporosis drugs. This study shows that persistence can be maintained in the long-term and is associated with efficacy and safety parameters.

Purpose: To assess long-term persistence with denosumab in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

Diagnostic Performance of a Panel of miRNAs (OsteomiR) for Osteoporosis in a Cohort of Postmenopausal Women.

A specific signature of 19 circulating miRNAs (osteomiRs) has been reported to be associated with fragility fractures due to postmenopausal osteoporosis. However, it is unknown whether osteoporotic fractures or low BMD phenotypes are independently contributing to changes in osteomiR serum levels. The first aim was to characterize the abundance, sensitivity to hemolysis, and correlation of osteomiR serum levels, the second objective to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of osteomiRs for osteoporosis according to the WHO criteria and on basis of major osteoporotic fracture history.

Bone turnover markers in serum but not in saliva correlate with bone mineral density.

Saliva was proposed as a diagnostic tool for systemic diseases. Here we determined the correlation of bone turnover markers in saliva, bone turnover markers in serum and bone mineral density in postmenopausal osteoporotic and healthy women. Forty postmenopausal osteoporotic and 40 age-matched healthy non-osteoporotic females were recruited for this case-control study.

Factors associated with high 24-month persistence with denosumab: results of a real-world, non-interventional study of women with postmenopausal osteoporosis in Germany, Austria, Greece, and Belgium.

Unlabelled: Persistence with osteoporosis therapy is vital for fracture prevention. This non-interventional study of postmenopausal women receiving denosumab in Germany, Austria, Greece, and Belgium found that persistence with denosumab remains consistently high after 24 months in patients at high risk of fracture.

Purpose: Continued persistence with osteoporosis therapy is vital for fracture prevention.

Age-related prevalence of osteoporosis and fragility fractures: real-world data from an Austrian Menopause and Osteoporosis Clinic.

Objectives: Age and bone mineral density (BMD) are the most relevant determinants for public health authorities to govern the management of osteoporosis. The objectives of this study were to determine the age-related prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis according to WHO criteria and fragility fractures in middle-aged and older women.

Methods: Women ≥40 years, who were referred to a menopause and osteoporosis outpatient clinic for BMD measurements, were assessed for patient characteristics, BMD and previous fragility fractures of the hip, the distal forearm and the vertebrae.

For how long should osteoporosis treatment continue?

Studies on the most effective of the commonly used bone-specific drugs, the antiresorptives zoledronic acid and denosumab, as well as up-to-date menopausal hormone therapy for early prevention refer to sound long-term safety data. However, depending on both the patient's characteristics and the properties of the respective regimens, the rates of side-effects, tolerability and persistence differ substantially. They are crucial limiting factors for actual efficacy in the clinical setting and thus determine the length and continuation of treatment.

Hypertension in women: the role of progesterone and aldosterone.

The age-related course of blood pressure and its gender-related difference, as well as the incidence of hypertension, have been the subject of multiple experimental, clinical and epidemiological studies over the past decades. The role of the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone within this gender dimorphism has been investigated without conclusive results. In this review, we provide background information on the gender difference in blood pressure, describe the impact of progesterone and aldosterone, and discuss the pathophysiology of aldosteronism as well as the potential role of drospirenone as a gender-specific agent for the prevention and treatment of hypertension and for cardiovascular protection.

Endometrial safety, overall safety and tolerability of transdermal continuous combined hormone replacement therapy over 96 weeks: a randomized open-label study.

Objectives: To establish whether transdermal continuous hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with estrogen/progestogen provides adequate long-term endometrial protection in postmenopausal women over a period of 96 weeks.

Methods: This multicenter, randomized, open-label, parallel-group study evaluated the endometrial effects and overall safety and tolerability of a transdermal matrix patch delivering estradiol (E2) 50 microg/day and norethisterone acetate (NETA) 140 microg/day (Estalis; patches applied twice weekly without intermediate breaks) and a once-daily oral comparator (Kliogest; one tablet containing E2 2 mg/NETA 1 mg) in postmenopausal women. A total of 406 women with an intact uterus, aged 44-69 years, were randomized in the 48-week core phase of the study, and 239 continued into the 48-week extension phase.

User experience with an oral contraceptive containing ethinylestradiol 30mug and drospirenone 3mg (yasmin((r))) in clinical practice.

Objectives: To assess the reasons why women chose the combined oral contraceptive (COC) containing ethinylestradiol 30mug and drospirenone 3mg, their perception of it, and their satisfaction with it when used in clinical practice.

Methods: This was an uncontrolled survey of women using the ethinylestradiol 30mug/drospirenone 3mg COC in 15 European countries from September to December 2004. The women were invited to participate in this study by their general practitioner, gynecologist, or other family planning provider.

Markers of bone turnover in postmenopausal women receiving hormone replacement therapy.

We investigated the effects of hormone replacement therapy (n = 27) on biochemical markers of bone turnover in a cross-sectional study of 127 postmenopausal women (according to WHO guidelines 18 patients had normal bone mineral density and 109 suffered from bone loss). Urinary excretion of free deoxypyridinoline and C- or N-telopeptide fragments of type I collagen served as bone resorption markers, serum osteocalcin as a bone formation marker. In women with no hormone replacement therapy, only C- and N-telopeptides correlated significantly with the lumbal T-score as an index for bone mineral density.

The acceptability of a novel oral contraceptive containing drospirenone and its effect on well-being.

Low-dose combined oral contraceptives are generally well tolerated and represent an excellent reversible form of contraception that is suitable for most women. Certain aspects of the clinical profile of combined oral contraceptives, such as intermenstrual bleeding and a tendency to weight gain, are, however, known to have an adverse effect on compliance, which may in a few women lead to contraceptive failure or pill discontinuation. Conversely, factors that have a positive effect, such as relief from the symptoms of premenstrual syndrome, can enhance compliance.

Genotypes of the vitamin-D-receptor gene and bone mineral density in Caucasoid postmenopausal females.

Objective: To evaluate the relation of bone mineral density (BMD) to inherited polymorphisms within the gene coding for the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in postmenopausal women.

Methods: DNA samples from 163 post-menopausal women and from 112 controls were genotyped for common allelic determinants within the VDR gene as defined by the restriction enzyme sites for BsmI, ApaI, and TaqI. BMD was evaluated at the lumbar spine (L2-L4) by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.

The effects of estradiol valerate plus medroxyprogesterone acetate and conjugated estrogens plus medrogestone on climacteric symptoms and metabolic variables in perimenopausal women.

Background: Two sequential hormone replacement regimens, containing either estradiol valerate plus medroxyprogesterone acetate (E2V/MPA) or conjugated estrogens plus medrogestone (CE/MED), were compared with respect to effects on climacteric symptoms, lipid metabolism, and hemostasis.

Methods: In an open, multicenter study, 51 perimenopausal women were randomized to E2V/MPA and 50 to CE/MED. Assessment of climacteric complaints was performed at baseline and at months 1, 3, and 6.

[Treatment of breast cancer at the 1st Gynecology Clinic at the University of Vienna].

Since 1979 diagnosis, operative therapy and postoperative treatment and follow-up is performed at the Ist University-Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Vienna. This management brought a close cooperation with radiologists and other oncotherapists. A standard operation method, in our case a modified radical mastectomy with a complete dissection of the axilla after radioisotope marking of the axillary lymph nodes enables us to perform a randomised prospective study of adjuvant therapy.

[Therapy of the surgical menopause syndrome with depot medroxyprogesterone acetate and its objective evaluation testing the reaction of the anterior pituitary gland to stimulation with gonadotropin-releasing hormone].

A randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study was conducted to evaluate the effect of 150 mg depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) intramuscularly on the surgical menopause syndrome. The clinical material consisted of 30 hysterectomized and bilaterally salpingo-oophorectomized women between 38 and 54 years of age. Inclusion criteria were regular menstrual cycles until operation, the appearance of frequent vasomotor flushes (VMF) after operation, and serum FSH levels exceeding 20 mIU per ml.

[Severe changes in the fundus oculi in pregnancy toxemia. 3 cases].

Three cases of severe retinal changes in conjunction with EPH gestosis are presented. 2 patients showed 4th degree hypertensive fundus changes (Keith-Wagener classification) and one suffered from bilateral exudative retinal detachment after an eclamptic fit in the 32nd week of pregnancy. The possible causes of retinal changes and visual disturbances in EPH gestosis are reviewed.

[Vulvovaginitis in childhood. Experiences in a pediatric-gynecologic clinic].

Vulvovaginitis was diagnosed in 43% of more than 1000 gynecologic-pediatric patients. The etiology, the diagnosis and the treatment of nonspecific as well as of specific infections are discussed according to the frequency of occurrence during the different hormonal (endocrinological) periods. An easy and practicable application of diagnostic and therapeutic measurements is of importance for the treatment of this most common disease in gynecologic pediatric patients.

Vaginal organisms in prepubertal children with and without vulvovaginitis. A vaginoscopic study.

In a prospective clinical and microbiological study covering 67 prepubertal children the vaginal flora of 31 asymptomatic children was compared to 36 children suffering from abnormal vaginal discharge and/or vulvovaginitis. Vaginoscopy was employed to obtain bacteriological specimens without contamination. Swabs were inoculated into prereduced transportmedia (PORT A CUL, BBL) and cultured aerobically and anaerobically.

[Anaerobic microflora of praepubertal children (author's transl)].

Bacteriologic cultures of the vagina and the cervix of 38 praepubertal children, aged 3 months to 16 years (average age 9 years) from the outpatient department for infants and juveniles of the 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the University of Vienna were obtained vaginascopically using anaerobic transportmedia (Port a Cul) and were examined for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. An average of 5.3 species was also isolated per child (2.

[Report of 22 cases of congenital adrenal genital syndrome (AGS) observed in the reproductive age group (author's transl)].

22 adolescent and adult female patients - 15 to 37 years old - with the Congenital Adrenogenital Syndrome (AGS) were examined. In only 7 cases the disease was diagnosed immediately after birth. Among 16 patients, which had already undergone a reconstructive operation of the external genitalia, only 5 were satisfied with its cosmetic and functional results.

[Effect of ear-acupuncture on the LH-concentration in serum in patients with secondary amenorrhea (author's transl)].

In 13 patients at an age of 17 to 26 years with intermittent or secondary amenorrhea an attempt was made to stimulate the pituitary gland by ear-acupuncture. The objective parameter for the comparison was the concentration of the luteinizing hormone (LH) in the serum during acupuncture and the LH-RH-releasing test. 6 of these patients were subjected to a so-called "placebo-acupuncture" to perform a blind-test.

[Improvement of utero-placental perfusion by transcutaneous nerve stimulation (author's transl)].

A report is given on 37 patients with a diminished utero-placental perfusion. 12 patients underwent only once, 25 patients daily over 2 to 3 weeks a transcutaneous lumbo-sacral electric nerve stimulation. Both, the 12 patients stimulated only once and the 25 patients with daily stimulation, showed a significant increase of utero-placental perfusion measured by the method of radioisotope placental perfusion.