Ovarian hormones and vaginal blood flow: using laser Doppler velocimetry to measure effects in a clinical trial of post-menopausal women

Objectives: To describe the use of laser Doppler velocimetry far measurement of vaginal blood flow and report the effects of estrogen compared with estrogen-androgen treatment in post-menopausal women. Design: Literature review of pelvic blood flow studies and sexual function. Findings from a prospective, randomized, parallel study. Setting: Normal human volunteers in an academic research environment. Interventions: Laser Doppler measurements of vaginal blood flow were compared before and after the administration of oral esterified estrogens or esterified estrogens plus methyltestosterone for four and eight weeks of daily drug administration. Main outcome measures: Vaginal blood flow velocities. Results: Laser Doppler velocimetry proved readily adaptable for measurement of vaginal blood flow. Although esterified estrogens plus methyltestosterone showed greater effects on blood flow than esterified estrogens alone, the results were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Vaginal blood flow is an objective measure of sexual function which can be determined with laser Doppler velocimetry. The vasodilator effects of esterified estrogens and esterified estrogens with methyltestosterone are similar.