[The importance of estradiol treatment by the transdermal route in preventing postmenopausal osteoporosis]. / Importanza del trattamento con estradiolo per via transdermica nella prevezione dell'osteoporosi post-menopausale.

The authors selected 18 women in surgical menopause in order to evaluate the validity of estrogen treatment for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Ten of these patients were given transdermal estradiol continuously for 12 months while the remaining eight served as untreated controls. Urinary hydroxyproline and bone density were assessed before and at previously determined intervals during treatment: the results showed the importance of estrogen replacement therapy for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis.