Influence of hormone substitution therapy on postmenopausal uterus

In a 58-year-old postmenopausal woman blood flow and blood pool images of bone scintigraphy showed a focus of increased activity in the right pelvic region. Computed tomography and ultrasound exhibited no abnormalities in the abdomen; especially the uterus and ovaries were normal. Careful anamnestic evaluation revealed that the patient received a long-term peroral estrogen/gestagen replacement therapy for the prevention of osteoporosis, but did not have menstruation-like bleedings for the last twelve months of therapy. At time of admission, the patient was on day 25 of hormone replacement therapy, and the uterus wash, therefore, in a premenstrual stage. Hence, despite cessation of bleedings in postmenopausal women, one should think of hormone replacement therapy as an explanation for vascular pelvic tumors seen by the first two phases of bone scintigraphy, before further diagnostic steps are undertaken. (orig.)