Abstract

PIP: A 21-day treatment cycle with oral contraceptives (OCs) of variable composition was administered to 68 healthy young women, each of whom completed 6 cycles of treatment. For the first 11 days, the product contained 50 mcg levonorgestrel (LNG) + 50 mcg ethinyl estradiol (EE); for treatment days 12-21, 125 mcg LNG + 50 mcg EE. Cycle control was good with a mean length of 27.9 +or- 1.1 days. Breakthrough bleeding occurred in 1.2% of the cycles, spotting in 2.8% and amenorrhea in 0.5%. There were no serious side effects. A series of biochemical tests conducted on fasting blood specimens indicated there were metabolic changes similar to those seen with other 50 mcg estrogen OCs.