Background: There is little information of progestogen-only contraceptives in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) on the long-term.
Objective: To evaluate the use of contraception in patients with CHD. We studied both short-acting reversible contraceptives (SARCs), oral progestin-only pills (POPs) and long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs): intrauterine devices (IUD-IPs) and subdermal implants both impregnated with progestogens (SI-IPs).
Study design: Retrospective study of all women attending the preconception clinic. Contraceptive methods were classified in three TIERs of effectiveness before and after consultation. ESC classification regarding pregnancy risk, WHOMEC classification for combined oral contraceptive safety was collected.
Results: Six hundred and fifty-three patients. A significant proportion of them switched from TIER 3 to TIER 2 or 1 (p < .001) after consultation. One hundred and ninety-nine patients used POPs, 53 underwent IUD-IPs implantation and 36 SI-IPs, mean duration was 58 ± 8, 59 ± 8 and 53 ± 38 months, respectively.
Conclusions: Because of their safety and efficacy, IUD-IPs and SI-IPs should be considered as first-line contraception in patients with CHD.
Keywords: Congenital heart disease; LARCs methods (long-acting reversible contraceptive); SARCs methods (short-acting reversible contraceptive); progesterone only contraception.
We looked at the use of progestogen-only contraceptives in women with congenital heart disease (CHD) over a long period and determine how safe and effective these contraceptives are for such patients. We considered two types of contraceptives: short-acting ones like progestin-only pills (POPs) and long-acting ones like intrauterine devices and subdermal implants that release progestogens.We gathered information from 653 women and assessed how women’s contraceptive choices changed before and after they had a consultation with us.After consulting with our clinic, a significant number of women switched from less effective contraceptives to more effective ones. Among the women who used POPs, most of them followed the prescribed regimen quite well. Additionally, 89 women used long-acting contraceptives, without failure of method.In conclusion, our findings suggest that long-acting progestogen-only contraceptives are safe and effective choices for contraception in women with CHD. Therefore, these options should be considered as the first choice.