The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of transdermally administered 17-␤-oestradiol on ambulatory blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive, postmenopausal women. Thirteen postmenopausal women with ongoing treatment for hypertension were included in this placebo-controlled, double-blind cross-over study. Ambulatory recordings of BP and heart rate were performed during 24 h on two occasions, separated by at least 1 week, after application of a patch containing either 100 g per 24 h 17-␤-oestradiol or placebo. Serum oestradiol was increased (PϽ0.001) during active treatment (139.2 ± 21.1 pg/ml) compared with the baseline postmenopausal levels recorded during placebo (40.5 ± 2.2 pg/ml). No rise in BP was found in office BP

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In the present study the acute anti-ischemic effect of clinically relevant doses of transdermal estradiol during concurrent antianginal therapy was investigated in 14 postmenopausal women with stable coronary artery disease. Plasma estradiol was significantly increased, but no significant effects on time to angina, time to 1 mm S–T depression, total exercise time, maximum rate-pressure product, maximum S–T depression or maximum workload were found. However, resting diastolic blood pressure was significantly decreased due to estrogen.