Carotid pulsatility indices in surgical menopause

A large body of literature is available concerning association of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and postmenopausal women; to our knowledge, only few publications in purely surgical menopausal women. The aim of this study was to evaluate pulsatility indices (PI) of internal carotid arteries in two groups of surgical menopausal women who underwent HRT vs who did not. Measurements of the PIs of internal carotid arteries in both Groups were performed with color Doppler ultrasound. Measurements of the untreated group (n = 38, mean age = 47.10 +/- 2.45, group 1) were compared to those of treated group (n = 42, mean age = 47.35 +/- 2.37, group 2). A statistically significant increase in PIs of the carotid arteries were observed in Group 1 as compared to Group 2 in post-operative follow-up (p < 0.001). Pre- and post-operative PIs in Group 1 measured at significantly different values pre- and post-operatively (right, 0.73 +/- 0.031 vs 0.80 +/- 0.049; left, 0.73 +/- 0.030 vs 0.80 +/- 0.052) (p < 0.001). No such pre- and post-operative difference in PIs were noted among patients in Group 2 (right, 0.74 +/- 0.046 vs 0.73 +/- 0.044, p = 0.200; left, 0.73 +/- 0.04 vs 0.73 +/- 0.04, p = 0.504). When comparing both groups, no statistical difference was noted pre-operatively (right, p = 0.501; left p = 0.625); however, postoperative PIs did reveal a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). Pre- and post-operative side-to-side differences in the PIs of internal carotid arteries were not statistically significant (group 1, 0.158 vs 0.211; group 2, 0.152 vs 0.356). In surgical menopausal women, the beneficial effects of HRT are in concordance with previous studies in terms of PI, which were performed with natural menopausal women.