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(Circulation. 2005;111:1456-1458.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial

Can Hysterectomy Be Considered a Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease?

Kate M. Brett, PhD

From the Office of Analysis and Epidemiology, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hyattsville, Md.

Correspondence to Dr Kate Brett, Commander, US Public Health Service, Office of Analysis and Epidemiology/NCHS, 3311 Toledo Rd, Room 6417, Hyattsville, MD 20782. E-mail KBrett@cdc.gov

Key Words: Editorials • women • menopause • risk factors • cardiovascular diseases

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

	Introduction

 

In this issue of Circulation, Howard and colleagues¹ present a study on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by hysterectomy status using data from the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study. The purpose of this editorial is to put their work and its findings into context by reviewing the literature both on the epidemiology of hysterectomy, as well as on menopause, sex hormones, and blood loss, and their impact on the risk of CVD.

	Context

 
Hysterectomy is the most common nonobstetrical surgical procedure performed on women in the United States.² In 2001, an estimated 649 000 hysterectomies were performed in the United States. Because most of the patients undergoing this procedure are between 25 and 54 years old, they live with the potential consequences of the procedure for many years.³ Thus, if hysterectomy is an independent risk factor for disease, then its attributable risk could be large even if the relative risk is small. This is especially true for CVD risk, a major cause of death among women.

See p 1462

Women who undergo hysterectomies have been shown to differ from women in the general population. Low socioeconomic status, measured either by education or income, has been demonstrated to be associated with hysterectomy in the United States among non-Hispanic women.^4,5 Women with higher parity and younger age at first child also appear to be more likely to have hysterectomies.⁴ Howard and colleagues’ study, however, is one of the few epidemiological studies to have examined the relationship between hysterectomy and risk factors . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Related Article:

Risk of Cardiovascular Disease by Hysterectomy Status, With and Without Oophorectomy: The Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study

Barbara V. Howard, Lewis Kuller, Robert Langer, JoAnn E. Manson, Catherine Allen, Annlouise Assaf, Barbara B. Cochrane, Joseph C. Larson, Norman Lasser, Monique Rainford, Linda Van Horn, Marcia L. Stefanick, and Maurizio Trevisan
Circulation 2005 111: 1462-1470. [Abstract] [Full Text]

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