Urogenital aging: solutions in clinical practice

Urogenital aging, the most prevalent consequence of the menopause, affects at least 50% of postmenopausal women. It can lead to a lower quality of life, sexual problems, pain at intercourse/micturition and incontinence, but is yet an undertreated condition. The ideal treatment should relieve the vaginal symptoms of estrogen deficiency, have a localized effect, be convenient and easy to apply, safe to the endometrium and be without the unpleasant discharge produced by vaginal creams and pessaries. Vagifem(R), a new vaginal tablet containing 25 mu g 17 beta-estradiol, may fulfill many of the criteria required of an agent for the effective and efficient management of urogenital atrophy. (C) 1997 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.