[Long-term use of ovestin by postmenopausal women with urinary incontinence].

The aim of the study was to improve diagnosis and treatment of women suffering from clinical manifestations of urogenital atrophy in menopause: stress and urgent urine incontinence, disturbances of urination, recurrent infections of the lower urinary tracts. A total of 237 menopausal women were treated for urogenital atrophy for four years. The age of the patients ranged from 51 to 78 years (mean age 64.5 years). after treatment with ovestin they were followed up for 1 to 2.1 years. It was found that stress incontinence is more common in young women, older females suffer more frequently from urgent and imperative incontinence. Ovestin, as a local replacement therapy, relieved symptoms within the first several days of treatment, the complaints disappeared completely after 25 days of ovestin intake. Side effects (nausea, head ache, breast discomfort) occurred rarely, were mild and disappeared within the first two weeks of the treatment. The conclusion is made that urogenital atrophy is a common disease of postmenopausal women arising as a result of lacking estrogenization of the vagina and adjacent tissues. Urogenital atrophy manifests as stress and urgent urinary incontinence, disurea and recurrent infection of the lower urinary tracts. Ovestin therapy should be given for at least 1.5 months. In positive effect the duration of the treatment is not limited.