(HealthDay News) — For women with cardiovascular conditions, long-acting reversible contraception appears safe with few complications, according to a study published in The American Journal of Cardiology.
Quyen Vu, from the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, and colleagues conducted a retrospective chart review of 470 women diagnosed with cardiovascular disease who had a copper intrauterine device (IUD), levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system, or contraceptive implant.
Patient demographic characteristics, medical conditions, indications from long-acting reversible contraceptive placement, and complications were abstracted and analyzed.
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The researchers found that 87.23% of women chose the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system, 7.02% chose the copper IUD, and 4.89% chose the etonogestrel implant. Overall, 3.83% of patients had a confirmed IUD expulsion, 0.43% became pregnant, and 0.85% had pelvic inflammatory disease. No cases of perforation were reported. No confirmed cases of infective endocarditis linked to long-acting reversible contraceptive insertion were reported.
“[Long-acting reversible contraception] devices appear safe with few complications for women with cardiovascular conditions,” the researchers wrote. “Clinicians can be reassured that [long-acting reversible contraception] may be offered as an appropriate option when counseling women with cardiovascular disease on safe contraceptive methods.”
