Why does menopausal hormone therapy lead to irregular uterine bleeding? Changes to endometrial blood vessels

Abnormal Uterine Bleeding during Pubertal Induction with Transdermal Estrogen in Turner Syndrome Individuals

STUDY OBJECTIVES

Incidence of abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) during pubertal induction among individuals with Turner syndrome (TS) has not been described previously. We estimated the incidence and characterize factors associated with AUB among TS individuals. A secondary objective was to evaluate the management of AUB among this patient population.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND INTERVENTION

We conducted a retrospective chart review to evaluate TS individuals undergoing hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for pubertal induction with transdermal estrogen (TDE). A total of 45 participants were identified between January 2007 and June 2019.

RESULTS

Of the 45 TS individuals included, 16 (35%) experienced AUB. Individuals with AUB most commonly experienced prolonged (44%), prolonged and heavy (25%), and intermenstrual (19%) bleeding. Individuals who experienced AUB were more likely to experience spontaneous bleeding (69% vs. 28%) and a duration of unopposed estrogen greater than 18 months (63% vs. 41%), undergo progestin cycling less often than monthly (69% vs. 0%), use a micronized progestin dose of less than 200 mg (25% vs. 14%), and be noncompliant with HRT (19% vs. 0%) compared to those who did not experience AUB.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a relatively high incidence of AUB among TS individuals undergoing pubertal induction with TDE. Care providers should consider the clinical factors examined to guide monitoring and management of TS individuals on HRT.

Incidence of endometrial spotting or bleeding during continuous-combined estrogen-progestin therapy in postmenopausal women with and without hypertension

OBJECTIVE

Endometrial spotting or bleeding is a common adverse effect among women taking continuous-combined estrogen-progestin therapy. The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system plays a major role in hypertension and is present in the endometrium. We hypothesized that postmenopausal women with hypertension would have a higher incidence of bleeding compared with postmenopausal women without hypertension.

METHODS

A multivariate mixed-effects logistic model estimated the odds ratios for the relationship of hypertension status or use of antihypertensive drugs with endometrial bleeding using the Women's Health Initiative database.

RESULTS

The incidence of spotting or bleeding in the first 12 months of estrogen-progestin use was 42% in women aged 50 to 79 years. Women with hypertension were more likely to experience bleeding than women without hypertension (odds ratio, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02-1.13). Overall antihypertensive medication use increased bleeding with an odds ratio of 1.24, whereas angiotensin II receptor antagonists had a reduced odds ratio (0.53).

CONCLUSIONS

Postmenopausal women with hypertension are more likely to bleed than postmenopausal women without hypertension when taking continuous estrogen-progestin, with less bleeding in women using angiotensin II receptor antagonists. This finding is novel and supports our hypothesis that the endometrial renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system may contribute to endometrial bleeding.

Abnormal bleeding during menopause hormone therapy: insights for clinical management

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to review the involved mechanisms and propose actions for controlling/treating abnormal uterine bleeding during climacteric hormone therapy.

METHODS

A systemic search of the databases SciELO, MEDLINE, and Pubmed was performed for identifying relevant publications on normal endometrial bleeding, abnormal uterine bleeding, and hormone therapy bleeding.

RESULTS

Before starting hormone therapy, it is essential to exclude any abnormal organic condition, identify women at higher risk for bleeding, and adapt the regimen to suit eachwoman's characteristics. Abnormal bleeding with progesterone/progestogen only, combined sequential, or combined continuous regimens may be corrected by changing the progestogen, adjusting the progestogen or estrogen/progestogen doses, or even switching the initial regimen to other formulation.

CONCLUSION

To diminish the occurrence of abnormal bleeding during hormone therapy (HT), it is important to tailor the regimen to the needs of individual women and identify those with higher risk of bleeding. The use of new agents as adjuvant therapies for decreasing abnormal bleeding in women on HT awaits future studies.