Sexual function and quality of life in women with idiopathic premature ovarian insufficiency.

BACKGROUND: Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a disruptive diagnosis for women, with major consequences on fertility but also on quality of life and sexual functioning. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of vaginal symptoms from the genitourinary syndrome of menopause on the quality of life and sexual functioning of women with POI. METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study involved 88 women who were investigated in a specialized setting at the University Hospital of Toulouse (France) between 2014 and 2019. All women completed the Day-to-Day Impact of Vaginal Aging (DIVA) questionnaire on well-being and quality of life and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) on sexual functioning. Analysis of total scores and subdomains of the questionnaire was performed and compared according to use of hormone replacement therapy or local low-dose estrogen treatment, age at POI, and use of antidepressant therapy or current psychological support. OUTCOMES: Outcomes included the DIVA questionnaire and the FSFI. RESULTS: Among the 88 women who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, 66 (75%) answered the questionnaires. Mean ± SD age at POI diagnosis was 32.6 ± 6.9 years and mean age at questionnaire time was 41.6 ± 6.9 years. The highest mean scores on the DIVA questionnaire were found in the self-perception and body image domain (2.05 ± 1.36), followed by the sexual functioning domain (1.52 ± 1.28). The mean FSFI score was 23.08 (95% CI, 21.43-24.73), with 32 women (78% of sexually active women) having a score <26.55, which defines sexual dysfunction. There was no difference in the FSFI score and for all DIVA domains whether or not women were taking hormone replacement therapy or local hormone therapy. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: This should encourage practitioners to systematically discuss the impact of POI on sexuality and vulvovaginal symptoms to provide women with specific care and advice to improve their quality of life. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: This is the first French study that aimed to assess the impact of the genitourinary syndrome of menopause on the quality of life and sexual well-being in women with POI by using standardized validated questionnaires with a very good participation rate (75%). The sample size was limited, and we could not eliminate selection bias due to university hospital recruitment. CONCLUSION: POI can have a negative impact on sexual quality of life, which raises the needs for specific advice and care.

Study of postoperative complications after the implementation of a multidisciplinary care pathway for patients with digestive endometriosis.

PURPOSE: To assess the quality of care following the establishment of a multidisciplinary care pathway for patient operated on for deep pelvic endometriosis with digestive impairment. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective monocentric study of patients suffering from deep infiltrating endometriosis, treated in Gynaecological Department at Toulouse University Hospital from January 2018 to December 2020. We compared our results to those of our previous study, Gornes et al. which showed a postoperative complication occurred in 37.8% of the cases and a postoperative severe complication according to the Clavien-Dindo classification (grades 3b) rate of 18.3%. RESULTS: 98 patients were included. Our study shows a clear decrease in postoperative complications with an overall complication rate of 19.4% and severe complications (grades 3b) of 4.1%. The rate of complication appeared to be significantly less frequent in the case of shaving in relation to other digestive procedures (p = 0.008) and in the case of a lesion of < 20 mm by MRI (p = 0.01). The use of multidisciplinary surgical care was more frequent in the case of multiple locations (66.7% vs. 41.8%, p = 0.07) and was more frequent in the case of transmural damage with echo endoscopy (and to a lesser degree in the case of damage of the muscularis or mucous membrane) (p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Multidisciplinary care of endometriosis with digestive damage appears to be indispensable. The intraoperative intervention of a skilled digestive surgeon of bowel endometriosis helps create the best balance between effectiveness-complications-functional prognosis, with a reduction of severe postoperative complications.

Interactions between antiseizure medications and contraception: A study about the knowledge of patients and their specialist physicians.

Planning pregnancy is very important for women with epilepsy (WWE), because of the potential teratogenic effects and neurodevelopmental disorders of different antiseizure medications (ASMs). Nevertheless, contraception in WWE can be challenging due to the existence of drug interactions between ASMs and hormonal contraception. The aim of this study was to assess women's knowledge of potential interactions between their ASMs and contraceptive options. The second objective was to assess neurologist's knowledge of the potential interactions between ASMs and contraceptive methods. An anonymous online survey was proposed to reproductive-age WWE during consultation with their neurologist. Another online survey was proposed to neurologists. These surveys were performed through a French regional medical network. A total of 79 patients agreed to respond to the survey. Forty-nine women used lamotrigine alone or in combination, 15 used an enzyme-inducing ASM alone or in combination, 13 used non-enzyme-inducing ASM and 2 used both lamotrigine and an enzyme-inducing ASM. Half of the WWE had mistaken beliefs about interactions between their ASM and contraception. Among them, 35% of the women treated with an enzyme-inducing ASM were unaware of a potential decreased efficacy of hormonal contraception. Moreover, 51% of the women who were taking lamotrigine did not know that combined hormonal contraception might decrease the efficacy of their ASM. On the other hand, 64.5% of WWE without an enzyme-inducing ASM wrongly thought that their ASM can decrease their hormonal contraceptive efficacy. A total of 20 neurologists answered the online survey. It revealed specific gaps concerning interactions between ASM and contraceptives; in fact, 35% of answers concerning the identification of specific enzyme-inducing ASMs were wrong. This study therefore highlights the need for educational efforts for both WWE and their physicians regarding drug interactions between ASMs and hormonal contraceptives.

Menopausal hormone therapy for the management of osteoporosis.

Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a frequent clinical condition which affects nearly 1 in 3 women. Estrogen deficiency leads to rapid bone loss which is maximal within the first 2-3 years after the menopause transition and can be prevented by menopause hormone therapy (MHT). Not only, MHT prevents bone loss and the degradation of the bone microarchitecture but it significantly reduces the risk of fracture at all bone sites by 20-40%. It is the only anti-osteoporotic therapy that has a proven efficacy regardless of basal level of risk, even in low-risk women for fracture. Following the publication of the WHI results, use of MHT has considerably declined due to safety concerns which raise the question as to whether it might still be used in the prevention of osteoporosis. Over the last years, subsequent re-analyses of the WHI and further trials have challenged the initial conclusions of the WHI. It is now clearer that the individual benefit-risk balance of MHT is dependent on the individual risk profile in each woman as well as whether estrogen is opposed or unopposed, the type of estrogens and progestogens or doses and routes of administration. It must be also reminded that to date osteoporosis is a chronic disease that cannot be cured. The choice of the 1st treatment option should thus always be made in the context of a more comprehensive long-term strategy. This is particular true in early postmenopausal women found to be at low/moderate risk of fragility fracture over the first 10 years after menopause but who may have a much greater lifetime risk. In the absence of contraindication, use of MHT should be considered as a 1st option for the maintenance of bone health in those women where specific bone active medications are not warranted. Subsequent reassessment of the individual benefit-risk balance of MHT is thereafter recommended, with the possibility of switching to another osteoporosis treatment if the balance is not considered as favourable as at the beginning of the menopause for women still at high risk of fracture.

TBS in early postmenopausal women with severe vertebral osteoporosis.

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: Severe vertebral osteoporosis is a rare condition in early postmenopausal women. We seek to determine whether Trabecular Bone Score (TBS), which is a new bone texture measurement, could be of additional value in evaluating trabecular bone properties in this population. METHODOLOGY: Lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) bone mineral densities (BMDs) and TBS were measured in 105 early postmenopausal women (group 1: "cases", mean age: 53.1 ± 2.6 yrs.) with severe vertebral osteoporosis defined as a vertebral BMD T-score ≤ 3, as well as in 105 healthy postmenopausal women matched for age (group 2) and 105 older osteoporotic women matched for vertebral BMD (group 3, mean age: 63.9 ± 4 yrs.). None of the women had a secondary cause for osteoporosis. Correlations between TBS values and BMD were calculated after controlling for clinical characteristics. RESULTS: The women in group 1 (cases) were significantly smaller and thinner and had a history of more fractures than the age-matched controls (p < 0.05). Mean LS and FN BMD values were significantly lower in the cases than in the age-matched controls (0.770 ± 0.05 vs 1.106 ± 0.11 g/cm2 and 0.700 ± 0.07 vs 0.872 ± 0.12 g/cm2, for LS and FN, respectively; p < 0.001). The mean TBS value was also significantly lower in the cases than in the age-matched controls (1.24 ± 0.08 vs 1.37 ± 0.07, p < 0.001) but significantly higher than in the older osteoporotic controls (1.20 ± 0.07, p < 0.05). After adjustment for vertebral BMD, the difference in TBS values between the cases and the age-matched controls was no longer significant although it remained significantly higher than in the older osteoporotic controls. This would suggest that in group 1, osteoporosis is rather the consequence of a low peak bone mass than of further bone degradation while the greater decrease in TBS value in elderly osteoporotic controls is more likely to reflect additional damage in bone microarchitecture associated with aging. In a multivariate analysis including age, vertebral and femoral neck BMD, height and weight (R2 = 0.60, p < 0.0001), TBS was found to be negatively and independently associated with age (r = -0.31 p < 0.0001) and height (r = -0.20 p < 0.001). The FRAX score was significantly higher in group 1 and group 3 women than in the healthy control women (group 2). There were no changes in the results after adjustment for TBS. CONCLUSIONS: Women presenting with severe vertebral osteoporosis at the beginning of menopause have TBS values that are, first and foremost, proportional to their BMD. Whether this indicates that osteoporosis in this population is the consequence of a low peak bone mass remains to be determined and further studies are required. Nevertheless, the value of measuring TBS in addition to BMD appears to be relatively negligible in early postmenopausal women with severe vertebral osteoporosis.

Bone mineral density in women with deep infiltrating endometriosis who have undergone early bilateral oophorectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To study bone mineral density (BMD) in women with and without pelvic deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE) who underwent early bilateral oophorectomy (BO). METHODS: A case-control study was performed in 83 women who underwent early BO before the age of 45 years, 31 for DIE and 52 for another clinical condition. All the women answered a standardized computer-assisted questionnaire to record their clinical and historical data and were medically examined. Lumbar spine and femoral neck BMDs were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry after early BO. Simultaneously, serum calcium, intact parathyroid, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and cross-linked C-telopeptide were also measured. Unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals [CI]) for endometriosis were calculated using logistic regression. RESULTS: The mean lumbar spine and femoral neck BMDs were significantly higher in women who underwent early BO for DIE than in those who underwent early BO for another clinical condition. After adjusting for age at BMD measurement, years since menopause, age at menarche and body mass index, odds ratio for endometriosis associated with a 1-SD increase in lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD was 2.59 (95% CI: 1.45-4.62) and 2.16 (95% CI: 1.23-3.81), respectively. CONCLUSION: Higher lumbar spine and femoral neck BMDs are associated with an increase in the likelihood of pelvic DIE in women who underwent early BO. This might be expected to the extent that endometriosis is itself associated with enhanced estrogen status, although further studies are needed to confirm such a hypothesis. These findings suggest that BMD measurement could contribute to the hormonal management of surgical menopause in women with DIE.