Thrombosis Risk with OCs Depends on Progestogen

Quoted from http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/GeneralOBGYN/15525

Thrombosis Risk with OCs Depends on Progestogen

By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today Published: August 13, 2009 ReviewedbyZalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

The risk of venous thrombosis from oral contraceptives is associated with both the estrogen dose and the type of progestogen used, two new studies show. Both found that levonorgestrel carried the lowest risk of thrombosis among all the progestogens. "Our results clearly show that the safest option with regard to the risk of venous thrombosis is an oral contraceptive containing levonorgestrel combined with a low dose of estrogen," wrote Astrid van Hylckama Vlieg, MD, of Leiden University Medical Center, and colleagues on the Dutch study. The study was published online in BMJ along with another by Ojvind Lidegaard, MD, of the Gynecological Clinic in Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, that produced similar findings. Action Points Explain that two studies in BMJ found that risk of venous thrombosis was associated with both estrogen dose and type of progestogen used in oral contraceptives. Note that levonorgestrel was associated with the lowest risk of venous thrombosis among all the progestogens in both studies. Several large studies have already confirmed a two- to six-fold increased risk of venous thrombosis associated with oral contraceptive use. Estrogen doses have since been lowered, but it is still unclear which oral contraceptive is safest in this regard. [Article continues at original source]