Abstract
Local estrogen substitution has been shown to be more appropriate than any systemic application for the treatment of urogenital symptoms of hormone deficiency. The efficacy, safety and acceptability of a new low-dose drug delivery system consisting of an estradiol-releasing silicone vaginal ring was studied in two multicenter trials. In an open-label comparative trial a total of 219 postmenopausal women were randomized to the estradiol-releasing vaginal ring or to estriol suppositories. In terms of efficacy both treatment arms were shown to be equivalent; however, significantly higher rates of acceptability were found for the vaginal ring. In a double-blinded placebo-controlled study a total of 84 patients were randomized to either treatment arm for a period of 24 weeks. The statistically significant improvement of the vaginal epithelial pH and maturation values demonstrated the efficacy of the estradiol-releasing vaginal ring compared to the placebo ring.