Comparison of the impact of oral versus transdermal estrogen on serum lipoproteins.

In an attempt to compare the effects of transdermal and oral conjugated estrogen on serum lipoproteins, 35 premenopausal women who underwent total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy were randomized to receive either 0.625 mg of conjugated oral estrogen or 0.05 mg transdermal 17 beta-E2 during the first postoperative year. Lipid profiles were assessed before surgery and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of therapy in each subject. Neither oral nor transdermal estrogen replacement therapy produced significant changes on serum lipoproteins at the end of first year when compared with baseline preoperative values. We conclude that both transdermal and oral administration of estrogen are promising in the maintenance of premenopausal lipid values after menopause.

Serum zinc levels and zinc binding capacity in thalassemia.

Recently, it has been reported that serum zinc binding capacity (ZnBC) is a very important criterion to evaluate body zinc (Zn) status. It has been shown that chronic Zn deficiency occur in the patients with thalassemia major (TM). Zn deficiency in TM may cause hyperzincuria, high ferritin levels, hepatic iron load, hepatic dysfunction. This study was undertaken to determine serum Zn levels and ZnBC in different thalassemia forms and sickle cell disease (SCD). The study has been carried out on 30 Thalassemia Major (TM), 34 Thalassemia Intermedia (TI), 31 Thalassemia Trait (TT) and 10 SCD. As control group,13 healthy children and 20 adults were included. Serum Zn and ZnBC were determined by atomic absorption, then saturation index (SI%: serum Zn/ZnBC x 100) was calculated. Serum Zn levels in all patients were lower than control (p < 0.01). Serum ZnBC was at a normal level in patients with TT and TI but it was found to be lower in TM and SCD than control (p < 0.01). While serum Zn levels decrease and ZnBC increase in nutritionaL Zn deficiency, serum Zn levels decrease but ZnBC doesn't increase in patients with thalassemia.

The importance of endometrial fluid collection in postmenopause.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the importance of postmenopausal endometrial fluid collection, which has almost invariably been accepted as a finding of a malignant process. METHODS: Out of 1,500 postmenopausal patients admitted to our center mainly for their postmenopausal symptoms, endometrial fluid collection was detected in 15 cases during transvaginal pelvic ultrasonographic evaluations. These patients were evaluated with cervical smears as well as endocervical and endometrial curretages. The fluid collections were aspirated and measured. RESULTS: The mean age and mean menopausal age were 51.7 +/- 1.3 and 5.7 +/- 9.8 years, respectively. Six of the patients were already on hormone replacement therapy. Nine were asymptomatic and the others had vaginal discharge and pelvic pain. Ten patients had normal findings on pelvic examination, and in the others benign cervical polyps, previous cervical amputation, cervical erosion, and nabothian cysts were detected. The volume of the directly measured fluid was 7.9 +/- 4.0 cm3. The cervical smears, the cytological examinations of the fluids, the colposcopic examinations and the endocervical curretages were negative, and the histopathological evaluation of the endometrial curretage specimens revealed no premalignant or malignant disease, but blood and fibrin in 1 patient, inactive endometria in 9 patients, proliferative endometria in 4 patients and senile cystic atrophy in 1 patient. CONCLUSION: Although there was no malignancy in our series, the conflicting results of the limited number of studies made us cautious and we still consider that postmenopausal patients with endometrial fluid collection may be at risk for gynecologic cancers and that every effort should be made in order to rule out such a condition.