A STUDY ON CHANGES IN MAMMOGRAPHIC PATTERNS AFTER DIFFERENT POSTMENOPAUSAL H.R.T. REGIMENS

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is widely used now a days to prevent the post menopausal complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different types of HRT on mammary density in postmenopausal women. Ninety postmenopausal women who had been referred to radiology department of Mashad Ghaem hospital for mammography and were under HRT treatment were included in this study. The mean time for HRT was 22 months. The baseline pre-mammary mammograms were compared with those taken during treatment with HRT. Among these, fourteen women were treated just with continuos conjugated estrogen, (Group A). Fifty-four women were treated with continuos conjugated estrogen plus daily medroxyprogesterone acetate (Group B).Twenty two women were treated with continuos conjugated estrogene plus medroxy progesterne acetate added sequentially for 12 days per month (Group C). The results showed that an increase in the mammographic density in two women (14.3 %) in group A, twenty-one (39%) women in group B and three (13.6 %) women in group C. The increase in mammographic density in group B was statistically significant (P < 0.05) when compared with group A and C. The results suggest that the frequency of increase in density is related to the type of HRT used. Furthermore, this increase is more significant with continuous combined therapy with estogen and medroxtyprogesterone.