Long-term use of oral contraceptive therapy in women with the prothrombin 20210 G-A polymorphism without thrombotic complications: A study of 13 women (12 heterozygotes and 1 homozygote)
A. Girolami et al., Long-term use of oral contraceptive therapy in women with the prothrombin 20210 G-A polymorphism without thrombotic complications: A study of 13 women (12 heterozygotes and 1 homozygote), THROMB RES, 102(3), 2001, pp. 205-210
Thirteen female patients with the prothrombin 20210 G-A abnormality (twelve
heterozygotes and one homozygote) were selected out of 551 patients admitt
ed to our Department of Medicine or to our Outpatient Hemostasis Units betw
een January 1999 and October 2000. The selection was based on the fact that
all patients had taken or were still taking oral contraceptives (OC) for a
period of 3 years or longer than 3 years. None of these patents as gathere
d from history, physical examination, private physician records and our rec
ords has shown any DVT during or immediately after OC intake. Physical and
compression ultrasonography examinations at the time of study were all nega
tive. The average length of oral contraceptives therapy (OCT) was 10 years
(range 3-23). The average age of patients at the time of oral contraception
was 30 years. The 13 women had also 17 pregnancies without any venous thro
mbosis. The observations casts several doubt about the prothrombotic effect
of this polymorphism. Since DVT has been shown to occur occasionally even
in normal women, it is likely that the same may occur in women with this po
lymorphism regardless of the existence or not of any pathogenetic relations
hip between the two phenomena. Occasional reports suggesting a link between
this polymorphism and oral contraception-related venous thrombosis should
be carefully evaluated in order to avoid premature and incorrect conclusion
s. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.