DOES HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY INHIBIT CORONARY-ARTERY CALCIFICATION

Objective: To determine the association between the use of hormone rep lacement therapy (HRT) and coronary calcium, in postmenopausal women w ho had no history of coronary artery disease by double helical compute d tomography (CT). Methods: We used CT to compare the prevalence and e xtent of coronary calcium in 41 postmenopausal women who were on HRT f rom the first year of menopause and 37 age-matched controls who had ne ver used HRT. Results: Both groups had a similar rate of smoking, hype rtension, a positive family history, and hypercholesterolemia. Coronar y calcification was observed in 28.2% of the 78 women studied. The pre valence of coronary calcium was significantly lower among HRT users; s ix of the 41 (14.6%), compared with 16 of the 37 nonusers (43.2%) (P < .01). The recorded risk factors had no effect on the prevalence of co ronary calcium. Stepwise logistic regression analysis, including age, coronary risk factors, and HRT use as independent variables, yielded H RT as the only variable determining the presence of coronary calcium ( odds ratio = 0.2; 95% confidence interval 0.06, 0.63; P = .006). Concl usion: The lower incidence of coronary calcium in the HRT users sugges ts that HRT is associated with decreased prevalence of the coronary ca lcification. (C) 1997 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gyn ecologists.