Oestrogen plus progestin increased venous thromboembolic disease in postmenopausal women with coronary artery disease
QUESTION: Does oestrogen plus progestin increase the risk of venous thromboembolic events in postmenopausal women with established coronary artery disease (CAD)?
Design
Randomised {allocation concealed}*, blinded (investigators, patients, outcome assessors), placebo controlled trial with mean follow up of 4.1 years (Heart and Estrogen/progestin Replacement Study [HERS]).
Setting
20 clinical centres in the US.
Patients
2763 postmenopausal women <80 years of age (mean age 67 y, 89% white) with established CAD but no previous venous thromboembolism and who had not had a hysterectomy. Exclusion criteria were CAD event ≤6 months or hormone use ≤3 months before entry, venous thromboembolism, breast cancer, endometrial cancer, uncontrolled hypertension, diabetes, or other fatal disease. Follow up was …
