Serum estradiol levels in infants with and without labial adhesions: the role of estrogen in the etiology and treatment.

No strong evidence has been found that estrogen levels in girls with labial adhesions are lower than in girls without. Therefore, this study was based on the determination of estradiol levels in girls with and without labial adhesions in order to show whether a considerable difference exists between these two groups. Serum estradiol levels were measured in 59 infants with labial adhesions and in 60 healthy infants. No significant age difference was seen between affected infants and controls, with a mean age of 12.7 and 12.4 months, respectively. Serum estradiol levels ranged from 6.5 to 14.3 pg/ml (10.27 +/- 1.897) in those with labial adhesions and from 6.4 to 15.1 pg/ml (10.47 +/- 2.006) in controls, a statistically insignificant difference (p = 0.5764). When taking into consideration the effect of estrogen on wound healing and the fact that the difference in estrogen levels between the infants with and without labial adhesion is not significant, it is concluded that hypoestrogenism does not take place in the development of labial adhesions, but that creams containing estrogen might have a beneficial effect on healing after mechanical separation of the adhesion by enhancing wound reepithelialization.