Prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism during HRT: current perspectives

Many large trials in the past 15 years have proven an increased risk of vascular complications in women using oral, mostly non-bioidentical, hormone therapy. The risk of vascular complications depends on the route of administration (oral versus transdermal), age, duration of administration, and type of hormones (bioidentical versus non-bioidentical). Acquired and/or hereditary thrombophilias (eg, factor V Leiden, prothrombin mutation G20210A, and others) lead to a further increase of risk for venous thromboembolism, stroke, or myocardial infarction. Therefore, bioidentical hormone therapy via the transdermal route seems to be the safest opportunity for hormone replacement therapy, although large trials for bioidentical hormone therapy are needed.