Oral ERT activates blood coagulation and increases the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in postmenopausal women. There is little research about the effect of transdermal ERT (using skin patches or gel) on VTE risk.
Pierre Yves Scarabin from INSERM, France, and colleagues did a multicentre hospital-based case-control study of postmenopausal women in France. During 1999-2002, 155 women with a first documented episode of VTE without a known cause (92 with pulmonary embolisms and 63 with deep venous thrombosis), and 381 controls matched for centre, age, and time of recruitment were studied.
21% of women with VTE and 7% of controls were current users of oral ERT, whereas 19% of women with VTE and 24% of controls were current users of transdermal ERT. After adjustment for potential confounding variables, women using oral ERT were over three times more likely than transdermal ERT users and non-users of ERT to develop VTE.
Pierre Yves Scarabin comments: "Oral but not transdermal ERT is associated with a risk of VTE in postmenopausal women. These data suggest that transdermal ERT might be safer than oral ERT with respect to thrombotic risk."
Contact: Dr. Pierre Yves Scarabin, c/o Séverine Ciancia, INSERM Press Office, 101 rue de Tolbiac75654 Paris Cedex 13; T)+33-1-44236086; F)+33-1-45707681; E) ciancia@tolbiac.inserm.fr
The Lancet