Grant: Project Grant

Hormonal contraceptives (HCs) are one of the most popular classes of medications. It is estimated that approximately 750 million women around the world uses HCs. A number of studies have looked at serious adverse events with HCs including risk of blood clots, heart attacks and breast cancer. One serious adverse event that has not received as much attention is the risk of pseudotumor cerebri syndrome (PTCS) with HC use. PTCS is a serious neurological condition that leads to an increase in pressure within the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). If untreated, PTCS can lead to visual disturbances and even vision loss. A number of studies have attempted to examine the risk of PTCs in women who use HCs. However, these studies have been limited by small sample sizes and lack of control for strong confounding variables such as boy mass index. PTCs is a rare condition that affects between 4-19/ 100,000 women. However, since close to 750 million women around the world take HCs and increase in the risk off PTCS may translate to thousands of women who may experience a potentially life changing adverse event every year. Thus, we seek to study the association between PTCS and HC using a large database in the United States that captures data on approximately 9 million women of child bearing age including data on body mass index. Using this data, we will undertake a case-control study and examine the risk of different types of HCs with respect to PTCS adjusting for potential confounding variables. Results from our study can inform physician and women around the world with respect to the potential risk of PTCS with different type, duration and dose of HCs.