Issues to debate on the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study. Hormone replacement therapy: an epidemiological dilemma?

In July 2002 the data of the prematurely stopped Estrogen plus Progestin study of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) were presented in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The results of the Heart and Estrogen/Progestin Replacement Study (HERS/HERS II) were published in the same issue. The results of WHI for healthy postmenopausal women often are interpreted to be in analogy with the HERS/HERS II results for postmenopausal women with established coronary heart disease.

Comparison of two hormone replacement regimens--influence on lipoproteins and bone mineral content.

Two hormone replacement therapy regimens were tested in a double-blind clinical trial involving 49 patients. In both cases the oestrogen component was 2 mg oestradiol valerate. This was administered for 21 days and sequentially combined for 10 days with either 0.

[Deliveries in patients with more than 1 cesarean section].

The mode of delivery in 49 women with two or more previous cesarean sections was examined. In 33 cases (67%) a primary re-cesarean section was performed, in 12 of 16 patients (75%) a vaginal birth was possible. Emphasis was given to the causes leading to the latest cesarean section to the maternal and infant conditions and complications and the relevant factors from earlier cesarean sections.