MENOPAUSE-INDUCED CHANGES IN DOPPLER-DERIVED PARAMETERS OF AORTIC FLOW IN HEALTHY WOMEN

Currently, estrogen replacement therapy is widely used as a specific treatment for hypoestrogenic associated conditions such as vasomotor instability, genitourinary atrophy and osteoporosis. These conditions affect a substantial number of postmenopausal women.1 The favorable effects of estrogen replacement therapy on cardiac morbidity and mortality in postmenopausal women have usually been attributed to an improved lipid profile. 2-4 It is now accepted that other mechanisms, such as the direct effect of estrogens on coronary vasculature and atherosclerotic plaque, may also have an important role in cardioprotection.3-5 Using Doppler echocardiography we recently demonstrated a significant increase in aortic flow velocity and acceleration after 10 weeks of hormone replacement therapy.6 These findings led us to investigate whether menopause and the related decrease in estrogen levels were associated with changes in Doppler-derived parameters of aortic flow. © 1992.