This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Oral estrogen HT increased risk for cholecystectomy
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
According to data from a French prospective study, the risk for cholecystectomy is greater among menopausal women who take oral estrogen hormone therapy.
The researchers originally included 70,928 menopausal women from the French E3N study cohort. At 11.5 years of follow-up, 45,984 (64.8%) menopausal patients were administered HT, and 2,819 cholecystectomies were recorded, researchers wrote. HT use was associated with an increased risk for cholecystectomy (adjusted HR=1.10; 95% CI, 1.01-1.20) compared with women who were not administered HT. However, this link was restricted to unopposed oral estrogen HT (aHR=1.38; 95% CI, 1.14-1.67), researchers wrote.
Data indicate about one cholecystectomy in excess over 5 years could be anticipated in every 150 women using oral estrogen HT (without progesterone) compared with women not administered HT, researchers wrote.
In an accompanying commentary, Bette Liu, MBBS, DPhil, of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, cited the UK Million Women Study that yielded similar results, in that the risk for gallbladder disease and cholecystectomy was significantly lower among women using transdermal HT compared with those using oral therapy.
“Regardless, the risks of gallbladder disease and cholecystectomy associated with transdermal therapy were still slightly elevated compared with women who never used menopausal hormone therapy (RR=1.17; 95% CI, 1.10-1.24),” Liu wrote.
Liu suggests transdermal formulations of HT may be the preferred option, given the emerging evidence from observational studies regarding the safety of HT.
For more information:
Liu B. CMAJ. 2013;doi:10.1503/cmaj.130004.
Racine A. CMAJ. 2013;doi:10.1503/cmaj.121490.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.