Serum and bile lipid levels in a postmenopausal woman after percutaneous and oral natural estrogens.

17 beta-Estradiol was administered for 4 weeks percutaneously (5 mg/day) and, after a 6-week period to allow the drug to wash out, orally (2 mg/day) to a postmenopausal woman in whom a Kerr tube had been placed because of an iatrogenic lesion of the common bile duct. After both methods of administration, there was an increase in the biliary cholesterol concentration, but after oral administration, bile flow also increased and cholesterol crystals appeared in the bile. The percutaneous method of estradiol administration in postmenopausal women seems to be less dangerous for the biliary tract.