VIDEO: Considerations for contraception in women with CVD
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A recent insight in JAMA highlighted the factors that physicians should consider when counseling women with CVD on contraception.
“For our patients with underlying cardiovascular disease, providing safe and effective contraception allows for pregnancy planning to reduce the risks of adverse cardiovascular events and to promote the optimal fetal outcome when that patient chooses to have a family,” Stephanie B. Teal, MD, MPH, co-author of the insight and chair of the department of OB/GYN at University Hospitals Cleveland and at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, told Healio.
Specifically, Teal said it is important to consider the safety risks associated with certain types of contraceptives. For instance, some contraceptives contain estrogen, which is pro-thrombotic, according to Teal.
“So, for women who have any cardiovascular condition in whom you have an increased concern for thromboses, estrogen-containing methods are probably the one class that you need to be most concerned about,” Teal said.
Keeping in mind the safety of each contraceptive option, Teal outlined four steps to prescribe the appropriate contraception to women with CVD, such as assessing individual risk and accounting for patient preferences.