Treatment of Menorrhagia in Women With Thrombocytopenia Using Platelets or Platelets and Hormones

Summary

This study will explore the role of oral contraceptive pills in managing uterine bleeding in women who have low blood platelet counts as a result of aplastic anemia. Oral contraceptive pills have been shown to be effective in managing uterine bleeding in healthy women, but the effects have not been thoroughly studied in women who have low platelet counts. The purpose of the study is to determine whether oral contraceptive pills are a useful complement to platelet transfusions in women with aplastic anemia and uterine bleeding. Volunteers for this study must be women between 12 and 55 years of age who have been diagnosed with aplastic anemia (with a platelet count of less than 50,000/microliter) and currently have active uterine bleeding. Candidates must not be pregnant or breastfeeding, must have a uterus and at least one functioning ovary, and must be willing to use nonhormonal methods of birth control (such as condoms or a diaphragm) for the duration of the study. On the first visit, candidates will be screened with a complete medical history (including obstetric and gynecological history) and will undergo a physical examination, a pelvic exam and a pelvic ultrasound. Blood and urine samples will also be taken on this first visit. The study will last approximately two weeks. Participants will be asked to monitor their medication doses and severity of bleeding during the course of the study. After the first visit, participants will be separated into two randomized groups and will receive either one tablet of oral contraceptive or a placebo twice daily, to be taken 12 hours apart at the same times each day. Participants will also receive platelet transfusions as needed to ensure that their platelet counts remain over 20,000/microliter. After seven days, researchers will assess participants' uterine bleeding and all participants will be given oral contraceptives in the second week of the study. Participants whose bleeding has decreased will receive only one tablet; participants who still have moderate to severe uterine bleeding will receive two tablets. A final assessment will be performed on day 14 of the study.

Timeline

Start

2007-11

Primary completion

2012-06

Completion

2012-06

Outcome

Outcome not reported

Stopped (Enrollment): “Early termination because of insufficient accrual.”

Publications

• Background Amsterdam A, Jakubowski A, Castro-Malaspina H, Baxi E, Kauff N, Krychman M, Stier E, Castiel M. Treatment of menorrhagia in women undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2004 Aug;34(4):363-6. doi: 10.1038/sj.bmt.1704577.
• Background Girling JE, Rogers PA. Recent advances in endometrial angiogenesis research. Angiogenesis. 2005;8(2):89-99. doi: 10.1007/s10456-005-9006-9. Epub 2005 Oct 7.
• Background Fraser IS, Critchley HO, Munro MG, Broder M. Can we achieve international agreement on terminologies and definitions used to describe abnormalities of menstrual bleeding? Hum Reprod. 2007 Mar;22(3):635-43. doi: 10.1093/humrep/del478. Epub 2007 Jan 4.

Drugs

Indications