Endometrial hysteroscopic and histological evaluation in menopausal women in continuous use of raloxifene

Abstract

Objective: To study the effect of raloxifene on endometrialhistopathology of menopausal women. Methods: Thirty-one patientsunder raloxifene treatment (60 mg/day) for a six-month periodand submitted to diagnostic videohysteroscopy at the ClimatericOutpatients Clinic, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics,Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual Francisco Morato de Oliveira,in the city of São Paulo, and at Hospital Guilherme Álvaro, in thecity of Santos, from September 10th, 2003 to June 22nd, 2004, wereanalyzed. Guided endometrial biopsy was performed on all patientson the anterior wall, using a 3-mm or 5-mm biopsy forceps. A 3-mmor 5-mm hysteroscope was used with TV imaging by an endocamera.The results of the hysteroscopic tests were compared before and sixmonths after the use of raloxifene. Results: The comparison betweenboth biopsies was performed by means of the McNemar’s test(marginal homogeneity test), and showed a descriptive level of 0.001that indicates difference between the estrogen effects assessed atdifferent moments. The estrogen effect on the endometrial tissuedid not increase in any of the 31 patients analyzed. Twenty-onepatients (68%) showed smaller estrogen effect in the final evaluation.Conclusions: The study showed no evidence of endometrialstimulation of raloxifene and, in fact, many women presented lessestrogen effect after its use.

Keywords

• Raloxifene
• Raloxifene/antagonists & inhibitors
• Raloxifene/therapeutic use
• Endometrium/pathology
• Endometrium/drug effects
• Estrogen replacement therapy
• Postmenopause
• Postmenopause/drug effects
• Hysteroscopy