Continuing hormones after heart attack not linked to added 1-year risk
The adjusted relative event rate was 1.11 for continuing versus stopping hormone therapy at one year; the range of likely values included no difference.
23,675 participants
Limit: Filled prescriptions did not confirm that women actually used hormone therapy
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
A Swedish registry-based observational study included 23,675 women aged 40–70 who had a first heart attack between 2006 and 2021. Of these, 1,818 had filled prescriptions for systemic hormone therapy, which acts throughout the body, within four months before admission. Researchers classified 1,139 as continuing and 679 as stopping based on prescriptions filled within four months after discharge.
Outcome tracking began four months after discharge. Researchers assessed a combined outcome covering cardiovascular events, unplanned heart procedures and death. During one year of follow-up, 98 events occurred among continuers and 52 among discontinuers, with no clear adjusted risk increase. At two years, the adjusted relative event rate was 1.25 for continuing versus stopping; the range of likely values included no difference.
Why it matters
For women managing cardiovascular disease as they age, whether to continue existing hormone therapy is a care question that current guidelines offer limited guidance on.
Caveats
This observational study could not establish cause and effect, and filled prescriptions did not confirm hormone use. Follow-up excluded the first four months after discharge, and the findings concerned women aged 40–70 after a first heart attack.
The paper
Linköping University
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026, Open access
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
