The European journal of contraception & reproductive health care : the official journal of the European Society of Contraception
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Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care · Jun 2001
Treatment of menorrhagia with a novel 'frameless' intrauterine levonorgestrel-releasing drug delivery system: a pilot study.
To evaluate the effect on menstrual blood loss of a novel 'frameless' intrauterine drug delivery system, the FibroPlant levonorgestrel intrauterine system (IUS), releasing 14 microg of levonorgestrel/day. An ancillary objective was to evaluate the contraceptive performance. ⋯ The FibroPlant levonorgestrel IUS is effective in significantly reducing the amount of menstrual blood loss in women with menorrhagia. Strong endometrial suppression is the principal mechanism explaining both the effect on menstrual blood loss and the contraceptive performance of the IUS. There were no differences in bleeding scores before and during treatment between the two groups of women with or without prior use of the copper IUD, suggesting that the development of heavy bleeding was not related to the use ofthe IUD. The therapeutic effect of this contraceptive method is highly desirable, particularly in women with heavy bleeding or anemia in developing countries, as other treatment modalities are less effective, more costly, more invasive or inaccessible. The low daily release rate of levonorgestrel from the FibroPlant levonorgestrel IUS results in a low incidence of hormonal side-effects and reduces the likelihood of amenorrhea. The simple design characteristics and revolutionary anchoring system minimize the occurrence of complaints of pain and the incidence of expulsion.
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Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care · Mar 2001
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical TrialComparison of the effect on acne with a combiphasic desogestrel-containing oral contraceptive and a preparation containing cyproterone acetate.
To investigate the effect of a combiphasic oral contraceptive containing ethinylestradiol and desogestrel (combiphasic EE/DSG) on acne, compared with a preparation containing ethinylestradiol and cyproterone acetate (EE35/CPA). ⋯ Combiphasic EE/DSG progressively reduced the number and severity of acne lesions during the six cycles of treatment. The reduction in acne with the combiphasic oral contraceptive was comparable to a preparation containing the antiandrogen cyproterone acetate.
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Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care · Jun 2000
Profile and opinions of the female Persona user in The Netherlands.
The primary objective of this study was to investigate the profile of the Dutch Persona user and her opinion about this relatively new way of natural birth control. The results of the study were used to draw conclusions for the suitability for Persona as a contraceptive method. ⋯ Persona seems to be a welcome alternative for natural family planning and for couples who have no absolute negative attitude towards a(nother) child, but want to postpone their first pregnancy or to space pregnancies. The method is not reliable enough to be used as the only contraceptive method when a couple absolutely wants to prevent a pregnancy. Another conclusion that can be drawn is that the method improves fertility awareness.
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Eur J Contracept Reprod Health Care · Mar 1996
Recent oral contraceptive use patterns in four European countries: evidence for selective prescribing of oral contraceptives containing third-generation progestogens.
A survey among oral contraceptive (OC) prescribers in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands was performed to investigate OC prescription patterns before and after recent publicity in the media about studies reporting a higher risk of venous thromboembolism with OCs containing third-generation progestogens as compared to OCs containing second-generation progestogens. Before this publicity, most physicians prescribed third-generation OCs as their first-choice formulations for normal healthy women as well as for young girls (< 20 years) and older fertile women (30-35 years). In women presenting with cardiovascular risk factors, third-generation progestogens (desogestrel, gestodene) were considered safer and were five times more often prescribed than second-generation preparations (71% versus 14%). ⋯ The results from this survey strongly suggest that, prior to the recent publicity, most prescribers considered third-generation OCs to be safer than second-generation preparations. Because of this perceived better safety profile, physicians have selectively been prescribing third-generation OCs to women at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This pattern of selective OC prescribing may have seriously biased the results of the recently published studies on OCs and venous thromboembolism in favor of second-generation OCs.