Oral contraceptives and nonfatal myocardial infarction
H. Jick, B. Dinan and K. J. Rothman
We obtained information on 107 women younger than 46 years who were
discharged from a hospital with a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction.
In the series 26 women were otherwise apparently healthy and potentially
childbearing. Among these 26 women, 20 (77%) were taking oral
contraceptives just prior to admission, and one was taking conjugated
estrogens. Among 59 control women, 14 (24%) were taking oral contraceptives
and one was taking conjugated estrogens. The relative risk estimate,
comparing oral contraceptive users with nonusers, is 14 with 90% confidence
limits of 5.5 and 37. All but two of the 26 women were cigarette smokers.
While this illness is rare in most healthy young women, the risk in women
older than about 37 years who both smoke and take oral contraceptive
appears to be high.
