Hormone therapy in Brazilian postmenopausal women with chronic hepatitis C: a pilot study.

Objective To evaluate liver function and hemostatic parameters in postmenopausal women who have chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus and climacteric symptoms and are undergoing hormone therapy (HT) (standard dose of transdermal continuous combined hormone therapy).Design Fifty out of 336 postmenopausal patients with chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus were selected. The non-inclusion criteria were other chronic or systemic liver diseases, severe vascular diseases, autoimmune diseases or malignant tumors. The patients were randomized into two groups: the HT group with 25 patients to be given transdermal hormone therapy (50 μg estradiol plus 170 μg norethisterone/day) and the control group with the other 25 patients (no medication). Hepatic tests (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma glutamyltransferase, total alkaline phosphatase, albumin, serum bilirubin) and hemostatic parameters (prothrombin time, factor V, fibrinogen) were evaluated at baseline and at 1, 4, 7 and...