[Oral contraceptives and cardiovascular diseases morbidity]. / Anticonceptivos orales y morbilidad de enfermedades cardiovasculares.

PIP: A case control study was conducted in Mexican Institute of Social Security hospitals in the Valley of Mexico to determine the relationship between oral contraceptive (OC) use and nonrheumatic cardiovascular disease in Mexican women. The study involved Mexican women between 20-44 years of age residing in the metropolitan Mexico City area and married or in stable union. 28 women hospitalized with confirmed diagnoses of ischemic heart disease, 22 with cerebrovascular accidents, 70 with pulmonary embolism or venous thrombosis, 33 with hypertensive cardiopathy, and 55 with other nonrheumatic heart diseases comprised the 201 cases. The 606 controls were women hospitalized with noncardiovascular acute illnesses who met the same requirements for inclusion or exclusion as the cases. Over 98% of the women in the study had been pregnant at some time. OC users were younger and better educated than nonusers. 30% of OC users and 26% of nonusers were smokers. The relative risk of nonrheumatic cardiovascular disease was 1.22 for past users of OCs, who included women using OCs until 1 month prior to the interview. The relative risk for women using OCs within 30 days of the interview (current users) was 1.24. The relative risk according to the estrogen dose was 1.79 for users receiving 40 mcg or less, but paradoxically doses of over 40 mcg decreased the risk to .75. The risk was 1.35 after 1 year of use of OCs, .96 from 12-18 months of use, and 1.34 after 48 months of use. The relative risk was .95 for ever users of OCs aged 20-29 years, 1.38 for those aged 30-39, and 1.48 for those 40-44. Among current users the relative risks were 1.19 for those aged 20-29, .84 for those aged 30-39, and 3.83 for those aged 40-44. The relative risks for ever users and current users respectively were 1.65 and 2.01 for ischemic heart disease and cerebral vascular accidents; 1.40 and 1.43 for pulmonary embolism and venous thrombosis; .85 and .71 for hypertensive cardiopathy; and 1.09 and 1.91 for other cardiovascular diseases. Users and nonusers of OCs had the same access to medical services. Observed differences in the ages and educational levels of users and nonusers were not a source of bias because cases and controls were paired by age and education. The results demonstrated that Mexican women in the Valley of Mexico who use OCs have a statistically significant elevated risk of developing nonrheumatic cardiovascular disease. In declining order of risk are cerebral vascular accident, ischemic heart disease, and pulmonary embolism and venous thrombosis. The risk is present from the 1st days of OC use and in use of OCs containing less than 40 mcg of estrogen. The risk increases with the age of users but not with smoking.^ieng